Treasure Hunting with the Ex
by Believe27
Summary: Ben and Riley have been friends for years but what happens if Rileys ex happens to be Ben's best friend? Maia is as history smart as Ben and computer/tech smart as Riley! What could happen when she comes with them? Any romance between Riley and Maia? COMPLETE
1. Riley's Ex Girlfriend

**Chapter One: Riley's Ex Girlfriend**

**So here is a new version of National Treasure! This time with another new comer! Maia Castle, Riley's ex-girlfriend! I'm guessing how long it would take Ben and everyone to get to the Artic Circle! **

I wake up to my cell phone ringing at 2:25 in the morning on a Monday. I look at the caller I.D. Unknown number. I decide to answer it anyway.

"Hello." I rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Maia, its Ben." I smile. Benjamin Franklin Gates.

"Benjamin Franklin Gates, what do I call this phone call at 2:25 in the morning, on a Monday?" I roll myself out of bed. I hear my room mate roll over in her bed. I sneak over to the front door and open in.

"A new treasure hunt." I smile more.

"About what this time?" I hear Ben chuckle on the other line.

"Do you remember, 'The secret that lies with Charlotte'?"

"Of course. I remember the day we met. Your grandfather told us the story about the Masons and the treasure." I can tell Ben was smiling on the other line.

"Well, I think I found the next clue."

"I'm in!" Ben laughs.

"Meet us at the Lincoln Airport at 5 AM." I smile as I walk into my dorm.

"Wait, who's the 'us'?"

"I'll tell you when you get here."

"Okay. Meet you there." I hang up the phone and gather my belongings I going to need to treasure hunt with Ben. I start to write a note to my room mate when she sits up in her bed. "Maia, where at you going at 2:30?" She asks with a yawn. I just smile and put my phone in my jean jacket pocket. "A trip." I smirk as I head towards the door.

"We have classes!" She snaps. I roll my eyes. "Tell Professor Fields that Ben Gates is my best friend." I walk out of the room and down the hall. I head to my car and drive to Lincoln Airport, too bad it's a 2 hour ride there. Once I arrive at the airport I see Ben already standing at the doors. "Benjamin Gates!" I squeal. Ben turns and smiles at me. I run forward towards him and hug him tight. "It's good to see you too, Maia." Ben laughs.

"So, where are we headed?" I ask. "Do you mind snow?" He asks. I give him a weird look. Ben shakes his head and we walk into the airport.

"So, who is this 'us'?" I ask. Ben turns away from me. "You'll meet them when we arrive." Ben smirks.

"Your evil." I snap. Ben just laughs and hands me a ticket. I sigh as we head to the plane. Ben hands me a very heavy jacket before we board the plane. "How cold is this place?" I gasp. Ben doesn't respond. I roll my eyes and board the plane.

About 12 hours later, Ben and I get off the plane. I put on the heavy jacket when we exit the airport. "God, Ben!" I snap. Ben rolls his eyes and we head towards some snow mobiles. I get into one that Ben gets in. I open the back side door and get in. I look at the man next to me and gasp. "Ben, why is Riley here?" I snap. Riley looks up at me. "Ben, why is Maia here?" Riley groans.

"They know each other?" A man with a thick British accent asks Ben. "Unfortunately. They are ex-boyfriend and girlfriend." Ben mumbles. I glare at Ben then at Riley.

"I'm Maia Castle, and you are?" I ask next to Ben. "Ian Howe. Nice to meet you." Ian says. I smile and buckle my seat belt. Ben starts driving. I look out the window and watch as we past snow, snow, and more snow. "Ben, I've been thinking…" I start.

"Really, I didn't think you could think." Riley mumbles. "I've been thinking about Hanson and Perry. Crossing this kind of terrine with nothing more than a dog sled and on foot. Can you imagine it?" I ask.

"Extraordinary." Ian smiles. Another hour later. "Are we getting close?" I ask.

"Assuming Ben's theory is correct…" Riley starts. "Assuming?" I question.

Riley ignores me. "…and my tracking model's accurate, we should be getting very close, but don't go by me. I broke a shoelace this morning." Riley says. Ben, Ian, and I look at him. "It's…it's a bad omen." Riley mumbles. I just roll my eyes.

"Should we turn around and go home?" Ian asks. "Or we could pull over and throw him out here." Ben laughs.

"I vote for Ben's idea." I smirk. Riley glances over to me as I play with my phone. I'm a computer wiz because of Riley but I'm also a history wiz because of Ben and his family history. "Riley, you aren't missing that little windowless cubical, we found you in, are you?" Ben asks. I start laughing. "A windowless cubical? Ben, do you have a picture?" I ask. Ben shakes his hand, no. I slump into the seat in defeat. Riley chuckles. "Absolutely not." Riley says. Suddenly his computer starts beeping and making other noises. Ben stops and we all pile out. I see some of Ian's men get out of a different snow mobile. I smile at them.

"Why are we stopping?" One asks. "I don't see a ship." I roll my eyes.

"She's out there." Ben smiles. We each get a metal detector and we start searching for the ship. After 30 minutes, one of Ian's men named Shippen stops me. "This is a waste of time. How could a ship wind up way out here?" He asks. Time to confuse him. "The hydrothermal properties of this region produce hurricane force ice storms that cause the ocean to froze, then melt, than refreeze. Resulting to a semi-migrating land mass that would cause a ship to land here." I smirk. Shippen just stares at me. I shrug and walk away. I look over at Riley who is just standing there. I wish I have brought my camera with me to take photographs of the land. This is amazing. Riley looks over to me and waves me over. I turn off the detector and walk over to him. "Yes?" I say with a huff.

"I'm sorry." He says. I give him a weird look. "Well, I don't understand why you're sorry when I'm the one who dumped you." I smirk as I walk away. Riley grabs my arm and pulls me close to him. Riley smiles at me, his smile always made me melt, but not this time. "Riley, forget it! We are never going to get back together." I snap pushing him away from me. I turn the detector back on and start searching.

I look around for Ben. I soon see him in the snow digging. "Hello beautiful." I hear Ben say. I smile and walk over to him. "This is amazing, Ben. _The _Charlotte." I say rubbing away some snow and ice. Ben looks at me and smiles. Everyone starts digging and uncovering the ship. I look over at Ben who is talking with Ian. I smile over to them.

Ian turns his head about waves me over to them. "I'm relieved I'm not as crazy as everyone says, or said my dad was, or my granddad, or my great granddad." Ben laughs. I nod. "Okay! Let's go!" I yell. Ben, myself, Riley, Ian, and Shaw walk towards the ship.

"Let's go find us a treasure." Ian smiles. I nod. We walk in and turn on some flashlights to see what is in the ship. Ben and Ian go first, I follow behind admiring the ice and what was still in tacked. I watch Riley walk over to the other side and looks at a hammock. "Ah! OH GOD! AH!" Riley screams as he falls to the ground. I look into the hammock and saw a frozen corpse. "You handled that well." I smirk. Riley stands up and glares at me. I just smile and walk away.

"This is it!" Ben says. Ben opens the door. "It's the cargo hold." I say. Ben nods as we walk in. Riley stops. "Do you think it's in the barrels?" He asks. I roll my eyes.

"Do you think it's in the barrels?" I mock. Ian breaks one of the barrels with the flashlight and gunpowder falls out. "Gunpowder." Ian says. I roll my eyes as everyone goes around seeing if they can find a clue first. Riley goes over close to Ben and breaks one of the barrels. Gunpowder falls out faster than he expected. I giggle to myself when I see Ben kneel down were a corpse was holding onto a barrel. He breaks the barrel and takes out a box. "I found something!" Ben yells. Everyone starts to walk over to Ben. He gets up and walks over to one of the tables. He unwraps the cloth from the box.

"What is it?" Riley asks. Ben takes off the lid of the box and reveals a pipe. I gasp and smile. "Do you guys know what this is?" Ben asks. Riley leans over Ben's shoulder.

"Is it a billion dollar pipe?" Riley asks. I roll my eyes. "No, Riley! It's not a billion dollar pipe. It's a Miashawn pipe." I smile.

"It's beautiful." Ian says taking it from Ben. "It's a million dollar pipe?" Riley asks.

"No, Riley. It's not a million dollar pipe. It's a clue!" I smile taking it from Ian. Ben takes the pipe from me and starts to take off the stem of the pipe. "What? Don't break it!" Riley snaps.

"We are one step closer to the treasure, gentlemen." Ben says. I raise my eyebrow. "…and Maia." Ben smiles. I nod with a smile. "But, Ben. I thought you said the treasure would be on the Charlotte." Ian says.

"No. The secret lies with Charlotte. I said it _could_ be here." Ben says taking off one of his gloves. He takes out a pocket knife and makes a slit on his finger. Blood starts oozing out. I close my eyes and try to forget about the blood. Not that I'm afraid of blood or anything. I just hate to see someone cut themselves, even for a good cause. Ben rubs the blood on the stem of the pipe. He also takes out a small notebook and rubs the pipe on the paper. I see symbols and writing appear on the page. "There Templar symbols." I say. Ben looks up at me and nods. Good thing I'm a history major at college and good thing I learned so much from Ben's family.

"The legend writ, the stain affected, the key in silence undetected. Fifty five in iron pen, Mr. Matlack can't offend." Ben reads. "It's a riddle. I need to think." He says as he goes over to one of the barrels that weren't broken. Ben sits down.

"The legend writ the stain affected. What legend? There is the legend of the Templar treasure, the stain affects the legend. How?" Ben mumbles to himself. I think about what is happening and why we found a pipe. "The key in silence undetected. Wait! Legends have keys! There's something!" Ben rambles on.

"A map, Ben! It's a map! Maps have legends and keys!" I say with a smile. Ben looks up at me and nods. "A map, an invisible map." Ben says.

"Wait a second! What do you mean by invisible? An invisible map?" Ian asks. Ben stands up and walks over to me. "The stain affected could refer to a die or reagent used to bring about a certain result, combined with the key in silence undetected." Ben says.

"Meaning, the implication is to make what was undetectable, detectable! Wait, or does the key in silence mean…" I start. "Prison!" Shaw says. I look up at him and give him a look. A shut-the-hell-up look.

"Albuquerque. See I can do it too." Riley mumbles. "Snorkel." I roll my eyes but start giggling. Riley looks at me and smirks. I roll my eyes again.

"That's where the map is. Like you said, fifty five in iron pen. Iron pen is a prison." Shaw says. "It's not a prison, Shaw. Iron gull ink is what they used in that time period. Then the pen would be…just a pen." I say starting to think again. I love thinking like Ben then we can finish each other's sentences.

"It's a prison." Shaw mummers angrily. I shake my head. "Wait, Ben. The ink doesn't describe the pen, it describes what _was_ penned!" I say turning my head towards him. Ben looks at me and starts smiling.

"Right! Iron is firm! It's mineral…no, no, no! It was firm, it was adamant. It was resolved." Ben says. I gaps. "It was resolved! Mr. Matlack can't offend. Timothy Matlack was the official scribe of the continental congress!" I say.

"Calligrapher, not writer." Ben says. "Right, my bad." I say. Ben nods.

"To make sure he could not offend the map, it was put on the back of a resolution that he transcribe." Ben says with a smile. "A resolution that 55 men signed." I say. Ian, Shaw, and Riley just look at us. I glance at Ben and nod.

"The Declaration of Independence!" Ben and I in union. Riley chuckles. Ian starts smiling. I can't wait to see everyone's reactions! "Ooohh…" Ian says.

"Come on," Riley groans. "There's no invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence." I just roll my eyes. My ex can be very annoying. There's a reason why I dumped him. "It's clever really." Ian says smiling my way. I smile back. Ian's a pretty cool guy.

"A document of that importance would ensure the map's survival. And you said there were several masons signed it, right?" Ian asks. I nod. "Exactly nine." I say. I see Riley roll his eyes towards me. I stick my tongue out at him like a 5 year old.

"We need a way to examine it." Ian smirks. My eyes widen. Okay, Ian being a pretty cool is over with. "This is one the most _important_ documents in history, they aren't just going to let us waltz in there and run chemical test on it." Ben says. I look at Riley. He looks up at me and our eyes meet.

"What do you propose we do?" Ian asks. "I don't know!" Ben snaps as he throws his hands in the air. Ian sighs then smirks.

"We could borrow it." Ian says. I gasp. Holy crap, Ian! "Steal it?" Ben says. Ian nods.

"I don't think so." Ben groans. Ian rolls his eyes. "Ben, the treasure of the Knight's Templar is the treasure of all treasures." Ian snaps.

"Oh? I don't know that. Really?" Ben sarcastically says. Ian rubs his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Ben, I understand your bitterness, I really do." Ian says. I glance up at him. "You sure?" I mumble. Ian glares my way.

"You've spent your entire life searching for this treasure only to have the historical community treat your family with mockery and contempt. You should be able to rub this treasure in their arrogant faces, and I want you to have the chance to do that." Ian says. Ben sighs and looks at me. "How?" He asks.

"We all have our areas of expertise. You don't know mine is limited to writing check, did yeah?" Ian asks. I start to walk over to Riley. "Why, I've arranged a number of operations of questionable legality." I gasp as I grab Riley's arm. Riley looks at my hand then at me. Shaw stiffens up as he goes to grab something off his belt. "I would take his word for it." Shaw smirks.

"Don't worry; I'll make all the arrangements." Ian smiles. "No!" I yell. Ian looks at me and Riley. "Shut up, Maia! Ben, I really need your help here." Ian smirks. Ben looks over to me.

"Ian, we aren't going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence." I snap. Ian nods. "Okay, from this point on all your going to be is a hindrance." Ian says as Shaw points the gun at me. I gasp. I look over at Ben.

"Hey!" Riley snaps as he pushes me behind him to protect me. "What are you doing to do? You going to shoot Maia, Shaw?" Ben asks. I turn my head over to him. What is he planning? "If you shoot anyone because there's more to the riddle. Information you don't have, I do. I am the only one who can figure out and you know that." Ben says. Ian laughs.

"He's bluffing." He says. I look at Ben's face. No, he's not. "We played poker together, Ian. You know I can't bluff." Ben says. Ian looks at Ben then turns his head at Shaw. "Tell me what I need to know or I'll shoot your friends." Ian says. Shaw puts his finger on the trigger.

"Hey!" Riley yells. "Quiet Riley! Your job is finished here!" Ian snaps. I look at Ben. Ben grabs a flare and lights it against a barrel close to him. He holds it up for everyone to see.

"Look at where you're standing." Ben says. I look down by them and see gunpowder. I gasp. "All that gunpowder. You shoot me, I drop this, and we all go up." Ben snaps. I look at Riley. "Ben!" Riley and I snap.

"What happens when the flare burns down?" Ian says. Ben closes his eyes and sighs. Nice going, Ben. Think before you light a flare. "Tell me what I need to know, Ben." He says. Ben opens his eyes. I point over to Shaw. Ben nods. "You need to know…" Ben starts as he gets ready to throw the flare.

"If Shaw can catch." Ben says throwing the flare. I close my eyes but I don't hear or smell fire. I open my eyes and see Ian has caught the flare. "Nice try, Ben." Ian smirks. The flare flame catches Ian's arm on fire from the gunpowder he put his arm into when looking for a clue. Ian drops the flare to the ground and the gunpowder bursts into flames. I pull Riley over to Ben. We watch as Ian and Shaw head towards the door on the other side of the flame. I groan. "Get out Shaw!" Ian yells. Ian runs out and closes the door.

"Ben!" I yell. Ben runs over to us as the fire spreads. Ben grabs my hand and Riley's arm towards a door. "Smuggler's hold." I smile.

"Get in!" Ben snaps. I get pushed in along with Riley. Ben closes the smuggler's hold door and runs with us. "Follow me!" Ben says. We run towards a different room. "Get down!" Ben says as he closes the door. Ben pushes us down.

The boat explodes. I close my eyes to make sure I don't see if we are going to die. I groan as I slowly open my eyes. I see Riley on top of me. "Riley! Get the hell off me!" I snap. Riley's eyes snap open and see me. He gives me a smile and he rolls off me. I sit up and cough.

Ben gets up and starts walking. I jump to my feet and run after him. "There's an Inuit village about 9 miles east of here. It's popular with push pilots." Ben says. I look at Riley and he gets up from the floor.

"Alright, then what are we going to do?" Riley asks. "Making own way back home." Ben sighs.

I roll my eyes. "No, we meant about Ian. He is going to steal the Declaration of Independence, Ben." I sigh. Ben turns towards me and Riley. "We stop him." Ben snaps. He continues to walk away. I run after him.


	2. Abigail Chase and Plans

**Chapter Two: Abigail Chase and Plans**

**Another chapter! I wrote it and finished it yesterday but I didn't want to publish just yet! So enjoy! **

Ben, Riley, and I exit the FBI building. "Is it so hard to believe that someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence?" Riley asks as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. I give him a glare. "The FBI get over 10,000 tips a week! They aren't goin to worry about something that they know, for a fact, is safe." I sigh. Riley walks over next to Ben. I roll my eyes.

"But, anyone that can do anything is going to think we are crazy. Plus, anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't going to want to help us!" Riley says. Ben stops and looks Riley in the eyes. "We don't need someone crazy. We are one step short of crazy and what do you get?" Ben asks crossing his arms.

"Obsessed!" Riley laughs. I smack Riley in the head. "Passionate!" I snap. Ben turns back around and we walk off. We go to the National Archives.

I pick up a National Archives Gala pamphlet. My professor talked about us being able to attend this. I hand over the pamphlet to Ben and he looks at it.

"Dr. Chase can see you now, Mr. Brown." The secretary says. Ben thanks her and the three of us stand up and Riley nudges Ben in the ribs. "Mr. Brown?" He whispers. Ben looks at Riley and shrugs.

"The family name doesn't get a lot of respect in the academic community." Ben says. I bite my bottom lip. What is about to happen? "So you are cutting down by the man." Riley says. We walk into the office and Riley's mouth drops to the ground in shock. "A very cute man." He mumbles. I pinch his arm.

Dr. Chase puts a finger up as she finishes her phone call. "Good afternoon gentlemen and…Maia Castle?" She says. I nod. "Ah, welcome back."

"Thank you, Dr. Chase! Guys, this is Abigail Chase." I say. Ben shakes her hand. "Dr. Chase, this is…uh…" I stammer.

"Paul Brown." Ben smiles. Riley quickly smiles. "Bill." He says as he shakes Abigail's hand.

"Nice to meet you…Bill." She says. I pull Riley over to me. "Bill, really?" I whisper. He shrugs. Riley and I sit down in two of the three chairs in her office.

"Your accent? Pennsylvania Dutch?" Ben asks walking over to a cabinet. "Saxony-German." Abigail says.

"You're not American?" Riley asks. I punch his shoulder. "She's American, Ri. She wasn't born here." I say. Riley gives me a smile. Abigail nods.

"What?" I whisper. "You called me, Ri." He smirks. I close my eyes and smack my forehead. Great, Maia! Get a hold of yourself! Just don't call Riley, Ri again!

"She's right and please don't touch that!" Abigail warns Ben before he touches the buttons. I open my eyes slowly. "Sorry! Neat collection though." Ben says pointing to the buttons.

"I forgot you collected George Washington's campaign buttons, Dr. Chase. You still haven't found that 1789 inaugural button, yet?" Abigail smiles at me. "No. This rare." She says.

"I found one once." Ben says with a smile. Abigail turns her hand towards Ben and smiles. Aww…Ben's attempt to flirt. Cute. "That's fortunate for you. Now, you told my assistant that this was an urgent matter." Abigail says as she sits down. Ben walks over to us and sits down.

"Ah, yes ma'am. Well, I'm going to get straight to the point. Someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence." Ben says. Abigail gives Ben a look of confusion and your nuts. "It's true!" Riley says backing up Ben.

"I think I better put you in touch with the FBI…" Abigail starts as she picks up the phone. "We've been to the FBI." Ben says.

"And?"

"And, they assured us that the Declaration could not possibly be stolen." I say. Abigail chuckles and nods. "They're right." She says.

"But, my friends and I are less than certain. However, if we were giving the privilege of examining the document we would be able to tell you for certain if it was in any danger." Ben says with a smile. Abigail blinks a couple of times. "What do you think you are going to find?" She asks.

"We believe that there is an encryption on the back." Ben says. "An encryption of what?" She asks. Ben rubs the back of his neck.

"Uh…a cartograph." Ben says. I close my eyes and try to think about what is about to happen. I stuff my right hand into the pocket and pull out my clear quarts crystal. The one Riley gave me when we first met. I play with it until Riley looks at my hand. "A map?" Abigail says.

"Yes, ma'am." Ben says.

"A map of what?" She asks. Ben looks at me and I smile. "The location of…" Ben start. He clears his throat as he tries to figure out how to word this. "…of items of historic and intrinsic value." Ben finishes. Riley pulls my arm close to him without Abigail and Ben knowing. I look at him and our eyes meet. I clench my fist so he can't see what I have in my hand.

"A treasure map?" Dr. Chase says with a small gasp. I nod and pull my arm back to its proper place, on my lap. "There's where we lost the FBI." Riley mumbles still eyeing my hand.

"You're treasure hunters aren't you?" She asks Ben and Riley. I look at her and smile. "We're more like treasure protectors." Ben says. Abigail gives us a slight eye roll.

"Mr. Brown, I have personally seen the back of the Declaration of Independence and I promise you that only thing there is a notation that reads original Declaration of Independence dated…" Abigail starts.

"Dated 4 of July 1776." Ben and I say at the same time. Abigail nods. "But, no map." She smiles. Ben closes his eyes to think. After a long and uncomfortable silence, Ben finally opens his eyes. "…It's invisible." He says.

"Oh…right…" Abigail says with a smile. I nod even thought she doesn't believe us. "And, that's where we lost the Department of Homeland Security." Riley whispers.

"And, what led you to assume there is this invisible map?" Abigail asks leaning forward. "We found an engraving on the stem of a 200 year old pipe." Ben says.

"Owned by free masons!" Riley points out. Abigail looks his way and nods. She turns her glance back to Ben. "May I see the pipe?" She asks.

"We don't have it." I say. Abigail smiles. "Did Big Foot take it?" She says trying to make a joke. Ben stands up quickly.

"It was nice meeting you." Ben says motioning us to stand up. "Nice to meet you too." Abigail says. We start to leave.

"You know that really is a nice collection. Must have taken you a long time to hunt down all that history." Ben says pointing to the buttons again. Abigail meets Ben eyes and nods. We finally leave her office and we go back to the display room. We make our way towards the Declaration.

"Ben, if its any consolation you had me convinced." Riley says. "Its not." Ben mumbles as he stops in front of the document.

"I was thinking, what if we go public? Flash this story all over the internet. It's not like we have our reputations to worry about." Riley says. I start to nod but stop. "I do! My professor is already pissed off that I missed the biggest test in the history of tests!" I snap. Riley gives me a stop helping look. I cross my eyes.

"I doubt it's going to scare Ian away, anyway." I mumble. Ben just ignores us all together and stares at the document.

"180 years of searching and I am 3 feet away." Ben mumbles. I pat his back. "Of all the ideas that became the United State, there is a line here that is at the heart of all the others. But when a long train of abuses and years of patience perusing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right it is their duty to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security. People don't talk that way anymore." Ben says.

"Beautiful…huh…No idea what you said." Riley says. "He's quoting the Declaration, moron! And, he said if something is wrong, those that have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action." I smile. Ben looks at the document and turns to us.

"I'm going to steal it." Ben says with straight face. Riley and I break out in laugher. Ben just looks at us. I see his face. He's not kidding. "You're serious?" I gasp.

"I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence." Ben says walking out of the National Archives. I look at Riley and he looks at me. "Uh, Ben!" We say as we run after him.

Ben sits down on the steps and Riley and I stand in front of him. "Ben, think this through! You are ending up with Ian! We can't let that happen!" I say. Ben just looks at me. "This is huge. Prison huge! You do know your going to prison, right?" Riley says.

"Yeah. Probably." Ben says. I sigh. "That would bother most people." Riley says sitting down next to Ben.

"Ian's going to try to steal it and if he succeeds, he will destroy the Declaration. The fact is the only way to protect the Declaration is to steal it. It's upside down." Ben says. I nod. "We don't have a choice, do we?" I ask. Ben smiles at me. I know that smile. The smile that we can't get out of anything. I sigh.

"Ben, for god sakes it's like stealing a national monument." Riley says standing up and pointing to one of the monuments. "It's like stealing him! It can't be done! It's not that is shouldn't be done, it can't be done!" He points to the Lincoln memorial.

"Let's prove it to him!" I smirk. We head to the Library of Congress. Riley collects everything we are going to need. "Okay, Ben, pay attention." Riley starts.

"Ri, get to the point! We don't have all day!" I snap. Riley gives me a sweet smile. Damn, I called him Ri again! "I brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over 20 million books and they are all saying the same thing. Listen to Riley!" Riley says. Ben takes off his glasses.

"Really? Listen to Riley? No!" I snap punching his shoulder. "What we have here is an entire layout of the Archives. We have builder's blue prints; we have construction orders, phone lines, water and sewage. It's all here." I say.

"Now, when the Declaration is on display, it's surrounded by guards and video monitors, and little families from Iowa, and little kids on their 8th grade field trip. And, beneath is an inch of bullet proof glass is an army of sensors and heat monitors that will go off if someone gets too close with a high fever. Now, when it's not on display, it is lowered into a 4 feet thick concrete steal vault that happens to be equipped with an electronic combination lock and biometric ant denial system." Riley sighs at the end of that long explanation. Ben just smiles and I begin to think. "You know Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2000 times to develop the carbonized cot filament for the incandescent light bulb." Ben says.

"Edison?" Riley questions.

"And when asked about it he said, "I didn't fail, I found out 2000 ways how not to make a light bulb", but he only needed to find a way to make it work. The preservation room!" Ben says handing the book to Riley. "Go head, enjoy." Ben says. Riley starts to read the page on the preservation room.

"Do you know what the preservation room is for?" Ben asks. "Delicious jams and jellies?" Riley says with a cocky smile. I smack his arm.

"No, you moron! The preservation room is where they clean, repair, and maintain all the documents and storage housings when they aren't on display or in the vault. When the case needs work, they take it out of the vault and directly across the hall and into the preservation room. And the best time for us OR Ian to steal it, is during the gala this weekend, when the guards are distracted by the V.I.P.s upstairs. But we'll make our way to the preservation room where there's much less security." I say with a smirk. Riley looks at me then back at the book. "Huh…well, if Ian…preservation room…the gala…This might just be possible." Riley says taking off his glasses. I smile and play with the crystal in my pocket.

Riley goes off to hack into the system while Ben goes to make the plan for how to steal the document. I leave to get ready for the gala.

I arrive at the dorm and see my room mate studying. "Hey, Kat." I smile.

"About time! Fields didn't like that you left like that!" Kat sighs closing the book. "Are we still invited to the gala?" I ask going over to my closet.

"Yeah! I have your invite right here!" Kat says putting the invite on my bed. I nod and start pulling out some dresses. "Why are you so excited about this?" She asks. I stop and close my eyes. How could I tell my room mate and best friend that Riley, Ben, and I are about to steal the Declaration of Independence because there's an invisible map on the back of it?

"Oh, nothing. I'm just excited…you know I haven't seen Dr. Chase since the internship!" I say. Kat nods and plops on my bed. "Andy has been asking about you." She smirks. I gulp. Andy. Crap, I forgot about him.

"Um, I'm not interested." I say pulling out a dress. "What? Why?" Kat asks. I turn and fold up a dress.

"How about this one?" I ask ignoring the question. "No! Why not?" Kat asks. I give in.

"I saw Riley today." I sigh pulling out the crystal. "Ah, that's why. You wanna rekindle something." She smirks. I throw the dress at her.

"Hell, no!" I snap as I pull out another dress. "That one." Kat says. I hold it and look into the mirror on the door. I smile. Maybe I do want to rekindle something with Riley but I don't know…


	3. Plan in Motion

**Chapter Three: Plan in Motion**

**Another chapter which was fun to write. The gala with my OC is amazing. I doubt that a college class is able to get into the gala without giving a donate but come on, I don't really care! It makes it more interesting if Maia was able to go and "Paul Brown" made a "donate". Plus, I love the idea of Maia being the person that Ian grabs for the Declaration but that's my own opinion.**

**And, I know that Castle was done in 2009 but this is my story and it makes sense with the chapter. **

**ENJOY!**

At the gala. I jump out of Riley's van and do a Kate Beckett thing from an episode of _Castle_. I see Ben get out as I put my heels on. I throw my other clothes into the van and grab my clutch. Ben hands me a hearing device. "Ben, are you sure that we should do th…" Riley starts but Ben closes the van door before he can finish.

"Riley can you hear me?" Ben asks. "Unfortunately, yeah. We're all set then." Riley says. I see my room mate walking over towards me. I walk over to her and smile.

"What's up?" I ask. She crosses her arms and shakes her head. "You're hiding something!" Kat says. I pull her over to the group of college students. I turn back and see Ben walking in.

"Okay, welcome history students. We have the privilege to attend the gala here. Many of you did an internship here for different reasons. I know Miss Castle was with Dr. Abigail Chase for a month." Professor Fields says. I nod and smile. We walk into the National Archives.

"How do you look?" I hear Riley say. "Not bad." I hear Ben say. Yes, Ben was able to get into the gala. Then I remember, the hearing device will set off the alarms. I step out of line and go over towards the door.

"Riley, problem!" I whisper. "What?" He asks.

"Metal detectors." I say. I hear him groan on the other side. "I think I know what to do." Riley says. I gulp.

"What?" I ask. "Do you have your cell phone on you?" Riley asks.

"Yeah."

"I put a little compartment where you can hide the device!" Riley says. "Maia! Come on, it's your turn!" Kat yells. I nod and pull out the hearing device. I open my clutch and take out my phone. I pull the device in the phone and stuff it back into my bag. I walk over to Kat and smile.

I hand my clutch over to one of the workers and a guard scans me down to make sure nothing is on me. I hand my invite over and grab my clutch. The woman smiles and nods. I walk with Kat into the gala. "I'll be right back!" I say heading off to the bathroom. I get in and go to the mirror. I pull out my phone and take out the device.

"Riley?" I say.

"I hear yeah! I guess it worked!" Riley says. "Like a charm!" I smile.

"Guys, stop flirting! We have a mission to do!" I hear Ben groan. I walk out of the bathroom and get a drink. I see Dr. Herbert going drinks. "Hey Dr. Herbert. Good to see you again." I fake smile. Dr. Herbert looks at me and groans.

"For you." I hear Ben says. I see Ben with Abigail; I have to stale Dr. Herbert. "Dr. Chase." Ben says.

"So, let's go over here for a moment! I have some questions for my report!" I smile. Dr. Herbert rolls his eyes and nods.

We walk over closer to Abigail and Ben. "Is that, that hot girl? How does she look?" Riley says. I turn away from Herbert. "Riley, focus!" I hiss. I turn back to Dr. Herbert and smile.

"So, what kind of questions do you have for me?" He asks. I think for a minute. Next time I want to stale, have something to talk around. "Um, how long did it take to build the Archives?" I ask. I already know that answer.

"I made a last minute donation. A pretty big one." Ben smiles. I look over at Abigail. She's smiling. Great, she thinks Ben actually donated, which he would but not at Paul Brown. I stop listening to Dr. Herbert and watch Ben and Abigail. I walk closer. "Well, on the subject, thank you for your wonderful gift." Abigail smiles.

Ben gave her the button, the last button she needed. I smile. Aww, Ben has a little crush. "Oh, you did get it?" Ben says with a sigh of relief.

"Well, I really couldn't accept something like that normally, but I really wanted it!" Abigail says biting her bottom lip. "Well, you needed it!" Ben says. I roll my eyes.

"Come on Romeo, get out of there!" Riley mumbles. Ben ignores him. "Riley, stop. He's flirting with Abigail. I think it's cute!" I smile. Ben glances over to me and waves me over. I walk over.

"I have been wondering though, what the engraving indicated on the pipe that Big Foot took." Abigail whispers. Dr. Herbert walks over to us. "Hi. Here you go." He says handing Abigail a drink.

"Oh, Dr. Herbert, this is Mr. Brown and you know Maia Castle!" Abigail says. "Hi." He says.

"Hi there." Ben says sadly. Don't worry Ben, Abigail doesn't like Herbert! "Who's the stiff?" Riley asks. I smile at them and walk a little away from them.

"A guy that Ben thinks is Abigail's boyfriend." I mumble. I walk back over to them. "Here why don't you let me take that, so you can take that off his hands?" Ben says grabbing the glass at the bottom. What?

"Thank you." Abigail says taking the glass from Dr. Herbert. "A toast, yeah?" Ben asks. I nod and Abigail smiles.

"To high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, oh and my personal favorite had their entrails cut out and burned!" Ben says with a laugh. Abigail's eyes widen. I nudge Ben in the ribs. "So, here's to the men who did what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right. What they knew was right." He looks into Abigail's eyes and Abigail blushes. He chugs down the drink. Abigail watches his every move.

"Well, good night." Ben says walking away. I watch him leave and smile at Abigail and Herbert. "Well, I have to find Kat!" I lie. I walk away from them and try to get out of the Archives without anyone noticing. "Hey Maia!" I hear Andy say behind me. I close my eyes and sigh heavily.

"Hey Andy." I fake smile. "Who's Andy?" I hear Riley ask.

"So, are you enjoying your night?" Andy asks. I nod, it's about to get more interesting! "I just saw you with Ben Gates? What? Are you friends?" I gulp.

"Who's this guy, Maia?" Riley hisses. I press on my ear and close my eyes. "Are you okay, Maia?" Andy asks. I snap my eyes open and nod.

"I'm fine." I say.

"This better work!" I hear Riley say. "What are you talking about?" I ask. Andy gives me a weird look.

"Um, I have to go to the bathroom!" I say running off. "Riley, what's up?" I ask.

"How does it look?" I hear Riley ask. "It's working! It's working!" Ben says.

"What's working?" I snap as I enter the bathroom. "Unbelievable!" Riley says. I groan as I sit on the counter.

"What's happening guys?" I ask. "Ben's plan is working!" Riley says. Finally someone is telling me what is happening.

I hear an elevator open. "I'm in the elevator." Ben says. "Okay, I am going to turn off the surveillance camera. Ready? In five…four…three…two…one. Ben Gates, you are now the invisible man." Riley says.

I laugh. "Oh, a laugh!" Riley says. I roll my eyes. "Wipe that smirk off your face, Ri!" I snap. Crap, I called him Ri again!

"Give me the letters to her password! Hit me!" Riley says.

"A-E-F-G-L-O-R-V-Y…" Ben says. I hear Riley start typing away. "Anagrams being listed. Okay, top results, a glove fry, a very golf, fargo levy, gravy floe, valey frog…" Riley rambles on and on. Then it hits me.

"Ben, its valley forge!" I say. I hear a clicking sound from Riley's end. "Valley forge? I don't have that on my computer!" Riley whines.

"I remember Abigail allowed me into the room once and I watched her put the password in. Hate me later." I say. I hear Ben laugh. "She pressed the 'e' and 'l' twice, Riley." Ben says. He types in valley forge.

"Hey, Maia? Do you have your iPod on you?" Riley asks. "Yeah, why?" I ask.

"Turn it on and connect to my internet. You should know the password!" Riley says. I take out my iPod and go to my internet. I type in Riley's password. "Riley, really? You kept that as your password. Okay, what now?" I ask.

I get an email from Riley. I open it and see it's the feed from the Archives. "Riley, I love you!" I laugh as I watch Ben walk into the preservation room. "Ben, you're doing great!" Riley says ignoring me.

I watch Ben start to dismantle the document from its case.

"Ben, pick it up! You got about 1…" Riley says. My screen goes blank. "Riley, what the hell?" I snap.

"I lost my feed! I lost my feed, Ben! I don't know where anyone is. I have nothing…Ben, I have…Ben I have nothing!" Riley panics. I gasp and get off the counter. "Ben, get the hell out of there! Get out of there, NOW!" I yell as I walk out of the bathroom. I see Kat and Andy talking. I quickly get past them into the main area. I need a quick way out of the gala and fast.

"I'm taking the whole thing with me! I'll get it out in the elevator!" Ben says. "What! Is it heavy?" Riley asks.

Suddenly, I hear a shooting sound and I cover my ear and run out of the gala. I walk into the gift shop and stop. "Ben, what happened?" I hiss as people walk by. The people give me a look and I pick a mug. "What was that? Who is shooting?" Riley snaps. Ben ignores us. I hear the screwdriver he brought.

"Ben, you still here! Ben, please answer!" I beg. I walk out of the gift shop and towards the doors. "I'm in the elevator. Ian's here. They were shooting." Ben says. A sigh a relief.

"I hate that guy." Riley mumbles.

I see Abigail walk over to a woman. "Rebecca, do you have a Paul Brown on that list?" Abigail asks. My eyes widen. Crap. "Paul Brown? No. Not here." Rebecca says.

"Ben, hurry up! Your cover is about to be blown!" I hiss running towards the doors. I take off the heels and run towards the red van. I take out my hearing device and get into the van. "Abigail knows that Ben isn't Paul Brown!" I groan. Riley groans and gets in the front step.

"Where are you Ben? Where are you?" Riley mumbles. "Stop talking! Start the van!" Ben says walking towards us. Riley starts the van when I see Abigail walking after him. I point out the window and Riley sees Abigail.

"Ben, the uh…the mean Declaration lady is behind you." Riley says. I open the door to the van and walk over to Ben as Abigail does. "Hey!" She snaps.

"Oh, it's you." Ben gulps. "Mr. Brown, what's going on? What's that?" Abigail asks pointing to the thing in Ben's hands.

"It's a souvenir." Ben says. "Really?" Abigail says putting her hands on her hips.

"Stop chatting and get in the van." Riley says through gritted teeth. "Did you enjoy the party?" I ask.

"Yeah." She says. Suddenly we hear alarms go off. Ben rubs his forehead and I smack my head. Crap, this is bad. Abigail's eyes widen.

"Damn." I mumble. "Oooh…" Ben mumbles.

"Oh my god." Riley mumbles. "Oh my god! You did not! Security!" Abigail screams as she tries takes the document. My eyes widen. No, I need a plan and fast. I put the hearing device in my ear.

"Give me that!" Abigail says. She grabs the document. "It's yours! Take it!" Ben says taking my arm. I pull away and run after Abigail.

"Maia! What are you doing?" Riley snaps. I catch Abigail and grab the document from her. "What are you doing?" She gasps trying to take the document. I push her away as Ian grabs me from behind. He covers my mouth with his hand. I try to scream. I see Abigail get up and run towards the van.

"Maia, what are you planning?" I hear Riley yell. One of Ian's men drags me into the van and sets me down on my feet. "Bad, bad, bad!" Ben snaps. He gets out of the van and gets shot at my one of Ian's men.

"Ah, look who we have here. The ex." Ian smirks. I pull the document close to me and try not to make eye contact.

"Once we catch them, what are we going to do?" I hear Riley says. "I'm working on it!" Ben mumbles. I growl. They don't even know how to save me! Thanks a lot! Ian's van turns right and I bang my back into the wall. I scream in pain.

"Right turn, right turn!" Riley mumbles. "Why don't you pass me the document and we can all go home?" Ian says putting his hand out for the document. I shake my head, no. Ian closes his hand into a fist. I slowly make my way towards the doors.

"Oh, no!" We hear Victor say. The van breaks something and starts to become a bumpy ride. I clutch the door handle as Ian and the rest knock into things. I manager to open the door and grab on to it with my left hand. I start screaming.

"Oh, no!" Ben says. "Holy lord! Maia!" Riley yells. I see Riley looks at me through his cracked window. I scream more when I see a gun pointed at me.

"No! If she falls the document falls!" Ian says grabbing the gun away. The door swings towards Ian and he grabs the document. "No!" I scream as the door swings open again. I see Riley's red van coming towards me. I see Ben reach his arm out for me; I go to grab it when I see a bus. I scream as the bus goes by. Riley drives closer to Ian's van and I jump into Ben's arms. Ian shoots at us as Ben closes the door.

"What were you thinking?" Riley snaps looking at him through the mirror. I glare at him and rub my back. "Are you alright?" Ben asks. I nod.

"No! Those lunatics….They stole…" Abigail snaps. "You're not hurt are you?" Ben asks.

"I slammed my back against the wall of the van but I think I'll be fine." I smile. I lean against the back of the passenger's seat. "You're all lunatics!" Abigail yells.

"Are you hungry?" Ben asks Abigail. I give him a look. "What the hell?" I snap.

"What?" Abigail snaps. "Are you alright?" Ben asks slower.

"Still a little on edge at being shot at, but I'll be okay! Thanks for asking!" Riley groans. I stand up and sit down in the chair. "Well, I'm not alright! Those men have the Declaration of Independence!" Abigail groans.

"You lost it!" Riley snaps. "It was a fake! Don't worry!" I roll my eyes.

"See? Okay? Now can you please stop shouting?" Ben asks showing her the original document. Abigail goes to grab it from Ben. "Give me that!" Abigail shouts.

"You're still shouting and it's really starting to annoy. You'd do well Dr. Chase to be a bit more civilized in this instance!" Ben says. Abigail nods and takes a breath. "If this is a real one, what did they get?" She asks.

"A souvenir like I said. Maia and I thought it might be a good idea to have a duplicate. Turns out she was right. Actually I had to pay for both the souvenir and the real on so you own me 35 dollars plus tax." Ben smirks. "Genius!" Riley smiles. I smile at my ex.

"Who were those men?" She asks. "The men who warned you who were going to steal the document!" I say.

"And, you didn't believe us!" Riley chuckles. "We did what we needed to do to keep it safe." I say.

"Verdammt! Give me that!" She yells. Abigail tries to grab the document from Ben again. "You know something, you're shouting again." Ben says.

"She was swearing too!" I point out. I took 2 years of German in high school. "Well, I think we deserve that." Ben chuckles. I nod.


	4. More Plans

** Chapter Four: More Plans **

**Another Chapter and I got my first alarm from someone. I think it was samANDfreddie something…sorry that I can't remember your username! But, that makes me happy! As long as someone is reading it and enjoy it! **

**Sorry for the shortness. I didn't realize until right now that this was under 1000 words! Its about 970 words without the author's note! **

We continue to drive. "There is not a map on the back of the Declaration of Independence!" Abigail groans. She annoyed and so am I! "And, there's no chance that anyone could steal this either!" Ben says shaking the document in the case.

"I level with you 100%. Everything we're told you was the truth!" Ben says. "I want that document, Mr. Brown." Abigail sighs. Ben looks at me and I nod. She deserves to know.

"Okay, my name's not Brown, its Gates. I level with you 98%." Ben mumbles. Riley slumps into the seat and gets ready for the screaming match. "Wait a minute, Gates? Gates! You're that family with the conspiracy theory about the founding fathers!" Abigail gasps.

"It's not a conspiracy theory." I say. "Per say." Riley mumbles. I smack his shoulder.

"Okay, I take it back. You're not liars, you're insane!" Abigail says. She crosses her arms. Ben tells her what he wants to do with the Declaration of Independence! "You can't seriously intend to run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence in the back of a moving van!" She groans.

"We have a clean room environment all set up. ETS sets, particulate air filtration, the whole chibang!" Riley says. "Really?" Abigail says shocked.

"Where was I in this part of the plan?" I ask. Ben rubs his forehead and sighs. "Ben, what did you do?" I ask.

"We can't go back there." He mumbles. "Why the hell not?" I snap.

"I had to use my credit card!" Ben says. My eyes widen. "Ben!" I yell. I slump in to the seat and thing about what I'm going to say to my best friend.

"Ben, I thought I gave you enough money for two!" I say. Ben shrugs. "$35 each, plus tax." Ben says. I sigh. They raised the prices on me. Damn…

"A credit card slip? Dude, we're on the grid! Do you...they're going to have your records from forever! They're going to have my records from forever! They're going to have Maia's records from forever!" Riley says. "I know, I know. It's only a matter of time before the FBI shows up at my front door." Ben says.

"What do we do now?" I ask. "We need those letters!" Ben says. Letters? I tilt my head in confusion. A smile forms. The Silence Dogood letters.

"What letters?" Abigail asks. "You know what, get off the road. Take a right." Ben says. Riley nods and takes the right.

"What letters?" Abigail asks again. We arrive at a park. Ben gets out and starts pacing. Abigail sits on the floor of the van. I open the passenger's door and sit in the grass. Riley sits in my seat. "You have to original Silence Dogood letters? Did you steal those too?" Abigail asks.

"No, he has the scans." I snap. "Maia, quiet!" Ben snaps. I cross my arms against my chest and snort. I roll my eyes.

"How did you get scans?" Abigail asks. I clench my fist. Will she shut up? "We know the person who has the originals!" I snap.

"Maia!" Ben hisses. I rub my arms for warmth. I feel a jacket being put on my shoulders. I look up and see Riley. I smile and put my arms through the arms of the jacket.

"Why do you need them?" Abigail asks. I roll my eyes. I stand up from my spot and sit on Riley's lap. He wraps his arms around me. "She really can't shut her mouth, can she? Now, I will let you hold onto this, if you promise to shut up, please!" Ben says handing her the document. She nods.

"Thank you." I mumble.

"Ben, you know what you have to do!" Riley says. "I know what to do, I'm just trying to think of anything else we could do." Ben sighs.

"Well, not to be a…uh…nudge but you do realize how many people we have after us. I mean, we probably have our own satellite by now." Riley says. I nod. "It took you all of 2 seconds to decide to steal the Declaration, Ben." I say.

"Yeah but I didn't think I would have to personally tell my dad about it!" Ben snaps. Abigail makes a mad dash away from us. "Hey, not cool! Not cool!" He says grabbing her.

"Let me go!" Abigail yells. Ben puts her down and grabs the document from her. "Your let go, now shoo." Ben says. She grabs the Declaration.

"I'm not going with the Declaration!" She says. "You're not going with the Declaration!" Ben says.

"Yes, I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight so I'm going!" Abigail says. "Wait, you're not going with us with the Declaration." Ben says.

"Yes, I am." Abigail says. "No, your not." Ben says.

Abigail gives Ben a sweet smile. "Look, if you wanted to leave me behind you shouldn't have told me where you were going." Abigail smirks. Ben opens his mouth then closes it. I look at Riley and shake my head. We get into the car and Riley drives off to Patrick Gates' house. We arrive and no one is there. Good!

"Looks okay!" I say looking out the window at the house. "Park a couple blocks away." Ben says.

"How long do you think we got?" Riley asks. Ben sighs and shrugs. "Give them a couple of hours at least. I hope!" Ben says.

"What do we do about her? I have some duct tape in the back." Riley says looking at Abigail. I smile but smack him. "No, that won't be necessary. She won't be any trouble. Promise you won't be any trouble." Ben says.

Abigail sighs. "I promise." She says.

"See? She's curious." Ben smiles. "Anything to do with Ben Gates is interesting." I smirk.


	5. Father and Son

**Chapter Five: Father and Son**

**Another chapter! YAY! I'm loving this story and I will be writing the sequel to this but first I have to copy down the whole script…which sucks since my copy of the script isn't the right one…**

**Enjoy…**

Riley drives a couple blocks away from the house. Ben and Abigail get out first. I wait for Riley to get what he needs from the van. "Ri? Can I talk to you?" I ask stuffing my hands in his jacket. He looks up from collecting his things for his laptop and nods. "I kept the crystal." I say. Riley stares at me.

"The crystal that you gave me the day we met. I couldn't get rid of it." Riley puts his laptop back where it was and come close to me. "What does this mean?" He asks. I sigh and turn away from him.

"You know Andy, the name I said at the Gala. He has the biggest crush on me and I don't." I say playing with the bracelet on my arm. Riley turns me towards him and pulls me close. "Why are you telling me this?" Riley asks.

I lean up towards him when I hear a cough behind us. I wiggle away from Riley and walk away. The four of us walk to the first door of Patrick's house. Ben rings the doorbell. The door opens a few seconds later. Patrick appears with a dish towel on his shoulder. "Where's the party?" He asks.

"Uh…I'm in a little trouble." Ben says. Patrick looks over Ben's shoulder at Abigail. "She pregnant?" Patrick asks. Abigail gasps and looks down at her dress.

"Well, if she is are you going to leave the woman carrying your grandchild out in the cold?" Ben laughs. She leans over to us. "I look pregnant?" Abigail asks. I shake my head no.

"Then, did your friend get Maia pregnant?" Patrick asks. Patrick is like a second father to me. I step out of the four-some and smile. "No, I'm not pregnant. Besides, I'm not with Riley." I say with a sad sigh. Patrick nods. We walk into the house.

"This better not be about that dumb treasure." Ben's dad whispers as we walk into the living room. "Make yourselves comfortable. There's some pizza, still warm…I think." Patrick says. Riley literally runs to the couch and starts eating the semi-warm pizza.

"Patrick, we need the Silence Dogood letters." I say. Patrick groans. "I'm sorry, but this is about the treasure."

"And, he dragged you three into this?" Patrick snaps. "Literally." Abigail smirks.

"I volunteered." Riley says. I nod with Riley. "Well, un-volunteer before you waste your life!" Patrick snaps. I sit down next to Riley.

"Knock it off, dad!" Ben says. "Of course, I know, I'm the family kook! I have a house, a job, health insurance. At least I had your mother for however brief of time. At least I had you! What do you have? Him? Maia?" Patrick says. Riley looks up and doesn't say anything.

"Close your mouth!" I hiss. Ben and Patrick yell it out. I pull Riley away from the pizza and go to the kitchen. "What?" Riley asks. I pull him close and kiss him. I feel his arm wrap around my back to pull me closer to him. I smile in the kiss as I wrap my arms around his neck. He breaks the kiss for air and rests his forehead on mine. I close my eyes. Wow, why did I ever break up with Riley?

"So, we together again?" Riley asks. I kiss his lips again and wrap my arms from his neck. Riley drops his arms and I walk back into the living room.

"The Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?" Patrick asks. "Yeah, she was beautiful. It was amazing, dad." Ben smiles.

"And the treasure?" He asks. Ben smile turns to a frown as I sit back on the couch. "No, no, but we found another clue that led us here…" Ben starts. Riley walks into the living room and sits down next to me. He puts his arm around my shoulders.

"And, that will lead you to another clue, and that's all you'll ever find is another clue! Don't you get it, Ben? I finally figured it out. The legend said the treasure was buried to keep it from the British, but what really happened was the legend was invented to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth." Patrick says. I sigh. Ben looks at me then back at his father.

"I refuse to believe that." Ben says. "Well, you can believe what you want. You're a grown person. What am I doing? Do what you want Ben, do what you want!" Patrick says walking into the kitchen.

"He's probably right. You don't even know if there is another clue." Abigail says. Ben's face lights up. "Well, I can think of a way that we can find out. And we can find out right now." Ben says. I stand up and smile at my best friend. I know what he needs. Lemons.

"Lemon, coming right up!" I smile. I run into the kitchen and grab a lemon. Ben hands me a rubber glove and one to Abigail. Ben and Abigail carefully and safely take out the Declaration and lay it on the table.

Ben cuts the lemon in spices when Patrick pops his head into the door way. "Looks like animal skin. How out is it?" He asks. I turn and look at him. "200 years or so." I say.

"Really? You sure?" Patrick asks. Ben looks up from the lemon. "Pretty darned." Ben says. I nod and Patrick goes back into the kitchen.

"Now, if this thing is in invisible ink, how to we look at it?" Riley asks. "Throw it in the oven!" Patrick says. I jump when I hear his voice. I look at everyone as there eyes widen.

"No!" Ben, Abigail, and Riley shout at the same time. Patrick raises an eyebrow at them in confusion. "Higher sulfate inks can only be brought out with heat." Patrick says.

"Yeah but this is…" Abigail starts. "It's very old!" I snap.

"It's very old! And, we can't risk compromising the map!" Ben says. Patrick sighs. "You need a reagent." Patrick groans.

"Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?" Ben sighs. Patrick goes back into the kitchen. "I'm fine." He yells from it.

Ben goes to wipe a slice of lemon on the Declaration. Abigail grabs his arm to stop him. "You can't do that." She says. "It has to be done." Ben says. Abigail takes the lemon from Ben and takes a Q-tip. She wipes it on lemon.

"Then, someone who is trained to handle antique documents is going to do it." Abigail says. Ben steps away from the document. "Okay." Ben gives in. Abigail steps in the line of fire, closer to the document.

"Okay. Now if there is a secret message it will probably be marked by a symbol in the upper right hand corner." Abigail says leaning forward. "That's right." Ben says with a smile forming.

She goes to wipe the lemon juice on the document. "I'm so getting fired for this." Abigail takes a deep breath as she wipes the lemon juice on the Declaration. We wait and watch for anything to happen. Nothing happens and Abigail gives Ben a deadly glare. "I told you. You need heat." Patrick says. Ben and Abigail look at each other before leaning down and blowing on the Declaration. A symbol appears then disappears in seconds. "See?" Patrick says.

"We need more juice." Ben smiles. "We need more heat." Abigail smiles. Ben and I run off the get what we need. Ben grabs the lemons. I grab the hairdryer from Patrick's room. Abigail wipes right down the right side of the document. Ben blow dries it down while Abigail writes down the numbers in the same row.

"It's not a map, is it?" Riley asks. "More clues. What a surprise." Patrick mumbles in the doorway of the living room.

"Are those latitudes and longitudes?" Riley asks confused as ever. "That's why we need the Silence Dogood letters." Ben says. He turns the blow dryer off and looks at the numbers.

"That's the key?" Abigail asks. Ben turns to Abigail. "The key in Silence undetected. Dad, can we have the letters now?" Ben says.

"Can someone please explain to me what these magic letters are?" Riley groans. I walk over to him and grab his face. I give him a kiss to shut him up. "It's an andor cipher." I whisper. I walk back over to the other side of the table.

"Right Maia!" Patrick says. "Oh, okay. What's an andor cipher?" Riley asks.

"Just codes." Patrick mumbles.

"Each of these numbers corresponds to a word in the key." Ben says pointing to the numbers before they disappear. "Usually a random book or newspaper article." Abigail says.

"In this case, the Silence Dogood letters." I smile. "So, it's like the page number of the key text, the line on that page, and the letter in that line. So, dad, where are the letters?" Ben says.

Patrick gulps and doesn't look his son in the eye. "You know, it's just by sheer happenstance that his grandfather…" Patrick starts. "Dad…" Ben says.

"…even found these. They were in an antique from the press room…" Patrick says, "Dad…" Ben says trying to get his attention.

"…from the New England Current. That's a newspaper." Patrick finishes. "Dad, where are the letters?" Ben asks.

"I don't have them, son." He says. "What?" Ben gasps.

"I don't have them." Patrick says. Ben takes off his glove and sits down next to Riley. "Where are they?" Ben asks.

"I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia."

"Time to go!" Ben says, standing back up from the couch. "I still can't believe that all this time no one knew what was on the back…" Abigail trails off.

"Back of what?" Patrick asks. "Ah!" Riley yells. Patrick picks up the document and sees the first words of the Declaration of Independence.

"NO!" Ben yells. "Oh my god. Oh my god!" Patrick gasps.

"I know!"

"This is the Declaration of Independence." Patrick cries. "And, it's very delicate." Abigail says taking the document from him so he doesn't damage it.

"You stole it?" Patrick snaps. "Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time. It was necessary. And, you saw the cipher." Ben says.

"And that will lead to another clue, and that will lead you to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find. There is no treasure! I wasted 20 years of my life, and now you've destroyed yours and Maia's. And, you've pulled me into all of this!" Patrick snaps. "Well, we can't have that." Ben says.

Within twenty to twenty-five minutes, I found myself in the back of Patrick Gates' car that Ben had 'stolen' from his father's garage. Riley laid his hand on my lap trying to get some sleep. He's been driving since this morning into the night to get to Ben's childhood home. "Your dad's got a sweet ride." Riley mumbles.

"I think, we should change clothes. We might look kind of conspicuous don't you think?" Ben says looking into the mirror at me. I nod. "Damn, I left my change of clothes in Riley's van." I sigh as I cross my arms against my chest.

"I would love to go shopping too but we have no money." Riley says closing his eyes. "Here. I this took this from his house. He usually tucks a few hundred dollars somewhere between those pages." Ben says throwing the book into Abigail's lap. "Common Sense. How appropriate." Abigail smirks. I roll my eyes. Ben has common sense, just when it comes to history.

"When we going to get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird." Riley says all in one breathe. "Really? You ate the whole pizza." I groan. Ben looks in the mirror at me and gives me a look. I give him an innocent smile.

We arrive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania around 3AM and everyone is beat. "Ben, can we stop at a hotel? We have enough money." I whisper as my eyes shut close. Riley swifts his body as he slowly wakes up. "Sure, Maia." Ben mumbles. I can tell he's really to collapse. Ben stops the car and the four of us walk into the hotel.

The follow morning. I wake up first and see Riley lay on the bed next to me. I nudge him and he falls off the bed. Riley quickly sits up and glares at me. "Sorry." I whisper. I get up and walk over to the Common Sense book. I flip through the pages and find 200 bucks stuck inside. I grab it and start to write a note to Ben and Abigail.

'Got up early to start the hunt. Go to the corner store near here and wait for Riley and me to get there. –M'

Riley gets himself up from the floor and we leave to get a change of clothes. We walk towards the corner store and thankfully it's open this early. Riley and I walk in and go up the stairs to the second floor. "Morning." The woman at the counter says. I smile and walk over to my section of clothes. I find some things and head to the changing area. I pull off the dress and put the jeans on first.

"Maia, can I ask you something?" Riley asks sitting on a bench. I look at him and nod. I pull the tank top over my head. "What was with the make-out session on Patrick's kitchen about?" Riley asks. I feel goose bumps and I turn away from him. I put on the layered tee on over the tank. I ignore the question and try to think of something to say.

"It was nothing, Ri. Forget it." I snap as I put on the jacket I found that is my style. "It wasn't something I could forget, Maia! Did you feel anything?" Riley asks. I turn back to Riley and stare into his eyes. I have to lie. I can't go down that road again.

"No, I didn't feel anything." I say with a straight face. I come out of the changing room and Riley grabs my arm. "What are you doing?" I ask as he pulls me close. Riley smiles and kisses me. I try to control my feelings but I can't. I kiss him back the same way he did to me. I feel him smile into the kiss. My eyes snap open and I push him away.

"Do you wanna know why I broke up with you?" I ask. Riley gives me a weird look. "Because, I loved you too much and I couldn't have my parents hate me for that." I sigh as I walk over to the shoe session of the store. Riley follows behind me. I find a pair of converses that I like and I quickly put them on. I pull off all the tags to give to the cashier.

I head over to the cashier with the tags and the money. She rings up everything I'm buying. "$110.45." She says. I hand her the 200 bucks I took and she smiles. She hands me $88.55 back and I stuff it into my pocket. "Riley, let's go!" I say running down the stairs. Riley follows close behind.

I stuff my hands into the pockets of the jacket as I walk outside. I head left from the store to the Franklin Institute. Riley keeps my distances from me. I didn't need his idiot and moron ways to effect me this part of the hunt. I stop at the steps of the institute and think. What if the FBI is in there? What if Ian is in there? Riley bumps into me and I stumble but Riley grabs my waist before I did a face plant on the steps. "Why did you stop?" He asks. I wiggle out of his grasp. "What if the FBI is in there or Ian? We're dead." I mumble until I see a little class of students with a parent start walking towards us. I smile forms on my lips and I walk over to the parent.

"Hello. I'm Maia and I wanted to know if one of these students wanted to help me with something." I smile at the parent. The parent rolls her eyes. "Do whatever. I just here because the room mother was sick and I was the backup." She says with a moan. I walk over to the kids and bend down towards them.

"Who wants to help me with a hunt? A treasure hunt." I smile. One child raises his hand and steps forward. "I want to help." He smiles. I smile back as the other kids giggle and laugh. Ah, he must be considered the 'teacher's pet'.

"Good. Now, come with me." I say leading him into the institute. "I need you to look at these letters and my friend will pay you a dollar for four letters each time. Here's the pad with the numbers." I say. He nods and gets to work. I walk out and see Riley with his arms folded.

"No FBI agents or Ian but the day is still young. Let's go over to the other side of the road." I say as I stop to see any cars are about to drive by. I walk to the small bench and Riley buys a paper from the newspaper stand and starts the puzzle to wait for the kid. "Give me $2." I hold out my hand for the dollar. Riley gives me a puzzling look as the kid runs up with the first four letters.

"Here." He smiles. I smile and hand him the dollars. "Here. The dollar for the first four letters and a dollar for the next four letters." I say. He nods and runs off.

"You're buying him?" Riley snaps. I nod and hand him the letters.

We sit on the bench when I see Ian and his men walk into the Institute. I gasp as the boy runs towards us. "S-S-A-N-D." The boy says. Riley nods and writes it down. "You sure?" Riley asks. The boy gives him a look.

"Okay." I smile. The boy watches Riley write down the letters. "No, N." The boy points out. Riley double checks his work.

"That is an N." Riley says. "It doesn't look like an N." The boy smirks. I look at Riley's writing.

"That's an R, Ri." I smirk. Riley glares at me and hands the boy another dollar. "Here. One more dollar. Go get the last four letters. Go get 'em, Chief. Come on!" Riley says as the boy runs off with the dollar.

"The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow passes in front of the house of pass and…what? Pass and what? Pass and…" Riley mumbles on. I look up and see the local bus with a picture of the Liberty Bell on it. I look closely and see 'Pass and Stow' on it. Stow? I stand up and grab Riley's hand. "What?" He asks.

"Pass and stow!" I say with a smile, forgetting everything about what happened at the shop. I pull Riley close and kiss him. Riley breaks the kiss and smiles. "Let's find Abigail and…uh…and…" I stammer.

"Ben." Riley says. "Yeah." I say. Riley and I run off to the corner store.


	6. Bell

**Chapter Six: Bell**

**Only four chapters left of this story! The second one should be published in September if I'm lucky! September 8****th****, I start school and I have to write out the whole script from scratch unless someone has a copy of it but I doubt that! **

We run up the stairs, me beating Riley. "Ben! Abigail!" I say as Riley finally makes it to the second floor. "Did you get it?" Ben asks handing over a few hundreds over to the cashier.

"Oh, we got it! Read it, Riley!" I say. Riley looks at me with a glare. "_The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow. _Now Pass and Stow referring to the…" Riley starts.

"The Liberty Bell." Ben, Abigail, and I say together. Riley sighs. "Why do you have to do that?" Riley whimpers.

"Well, John Pass and John Stow cast the bell." Abigail says. I nod in agreement. Ben and Abigail are a perfect match. "Well…what does the rest of the mean?" Riley asks confused as ever. He's stuck with three historians that could have a history quiz right now and pass while Riley is still figuring out the first question.

"Wait a minute. _The vision to see the treasured past_ must refer to a way to read the map!" Ben says. "I thought the _cipher _was the map." Riley groans.

"No, the cipher was a way to find a way to read the map." Ben says. "And, the way to read the map comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the Liberty Bell." Abigail says smiling at Ben.

"Crosses in front of the house of the Liberty Bell." Ben says. "Independence Hall!" I smile. Ben gives me a smile.

"It's a timely shadow. It's a specific time." Abigail says. "Uh, what time?" Riley asks.

"What time? What time?" Ben says. His face lights up. "Wait, you're going to love this. Excuse me; can I see one of those hundred dollar bills I paid you with?" The cashier looks at Ben and shakes her hand. "No."

"Well, uh…" Ben stammers trying to think of something to say. I smile and pull out Riley's crystal he gave me. "My ex-bonehead-boyfriend gave me this when he went on vacation. It's tiny but I had my geology professor look at it and said it would go for a lot of money." I say holding out the crystal. I look Riley's way and his eyes are widened.

"Whatever." The girl rolls her eyes and hands Ben the hundred dollar bill. She takes the crystal and sets it down on the counter. "Thank you." I smile.

"On the back of a hundred dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall, based on a painting done in the 1780s. The artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin. It's wonderful!" Ben smiles. The girl rolls her eyes again. "Hold this." He hands the document over to Abigail. She grabs it from him and puts it over her shoulder. Ben gives her a look.

"I'm not going anywhere." She smiles. "Now, I think that if we look at this clock tower we may find the specific time." Ben says taking a water bottle. He looks through the bottle to see the time.

"What's the time, Ben?" I ask. "2:22." Ben says.

"What time is it now?" Abigail asks. I take out my phone and sigh. "Almost 3." I say.

"We missed it." Abigail sighs. I get a text message from Andy. Ignoring… "No, we didn't. We didn't because…wait, you don't know this? Not even you, Maia? I know something about history that you don't know!" Riley smiles. He eyes twinkle with excitement. I put a hand on my hip. Riley knows something about history that Ben doesn't even know! How is that possible?

"I would be very excited to learn about it, Riley." Ben says. "Hold on a second. Let my just…just take this moment. This is…cool! Is this how you feel all the time? Because…I mean except for now of course…" Riley trails off.

"Riley!" I snap. Riley snaps back into reality. "Alright! What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If its three PM now, that means in 1776 is would be two PM." Riley says.

"Riley, you a genius!" I say kissing his cheek. "Really?" He grins. I shake my head, no. He pouts.

"Let's go!" Abigail says. Ben hands the hundred back to the cashier and she hands me the crystal back. "Okay! Do you actually know who the first person to suggest daylight savings was?" Riley asks as we head to the stairs.

"Benjamin Franklin." The three of us say all at once. I watch Riley do a little temper tantrum in defeat. "You're surrounded by three historians, Ri. You wouldn't going to win that question." I smirk.

We head to the Liberty Bell and walk into Independence Hall. We break away from the tour group and go up to the bell. "What bell is this?" Riley asks.

"The Centennial Bell. It replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876." I say. "There it is." Abigail says looking out onto the roof. The cross is hitting a certain brick.

"Maia and I are going to go down there and you two meet us in the signing room. Okay?" Ben asks. I nod and Riley looks at me. "I'll be fine." I smile.

"Let's go." Abigail says heading back down. Riley looks at the watch on his wrist. "3:22, my idea." He smiles and follows Abigail. Ben and I go down to the roof to find what we are looking for.

Ben and I walk up to the bricks and I feel around for something. The shadow is slowly going up higher. I feel a circle symbol. "Ben!" I say. Ben looks at the brick and pulls out his pocket knife. He cuts the brick loose from the rest of the wall. He feels in the back but nothing. I take the brick and tip it over. Benjamin Franklin glasses fall out and I smile. "We found what we were looking for." I say. Ben nods and we head back into the signing room.

"What did you find?" Riley asks. Ben pulls out the glasses and holds them up. "We found some kind of ocular device. The vision to see the treasured past? Let me that this." Ben says handing the glasses over to Riley. Abigail hands him the Declaration.

"Didn't Benjamin Franklin invented something like these?" Abigail asks. "Ben Franklin invent _these_." I smile at them.

"What do we do with them?" Riley asks. "Riley, you look through them!" I snap. Riley holds up the glasses to the light. I shake my head.

Ben and Abigail pull out the document from the case. "Here, help me." Abigail says to Riley. He helps Abigail hold one side of the Declaration. "Whew." Ben sighs happily.

"What?" Riley asks. "It's just that the last time this was here, it was being signed." Ben smiles. Abigail smiles.

"Ben, there's another tour coming." Riley says ruining the moment. "Turn it over." Ben says annoyed at Riley. They carefully turn the Declaration over.

"Spectacles." Ben says. Riley hands him the glasses. He puts them on and gasps. "Ben, what?" I ask. Ben hands me the glasses and I see a cross with 'heere at the wall'. I pass the glasses over to Abigail but Riley tries to grab them.

"What is it? Is it the treasure map?" Riley asks. "It says 'heere at the wall' spelled with two E's." I say. Abigail puts the glasses on and looks. "Wow."

"What can't they just say go to this place, here's the treasure, spend it wisely?" Riley mumbles. I turn and see Ian and Shaw outside. "Crap." I say running towards the window. I look out the window and Riley walks over.

"How did they find us?" Riley groans. "Ian has nearly unlimited resourced and he's smart." Ben says. Abigail and Ben roll up the document.

"I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted." Abigail says. "Well, we don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses, but we especially don't want them to have them both together." Ben says putting the document into its case.

"So what do we do?" Riley asks. "We separate the lock from the key. We're splitting up!" Ben says.

"Really?" Riley says. "Maia and I'll take this and those, you take that. Meet us at the car and call me if you have any problems." Ben says handing me the case.

"Like if we get caught and killed?" Riley asks. "Yeah, that would be a big problem, Ri!" I smirk.

"Take car of her." Ben says. "I will." Abigail and Riley says. Abigail is taking about the Declaration and Riley was talking about Abigail. I giggle and Ben and I leave first.


	7. Ian on the Loose

**Chapter Seven: Ian on the Loose**

**Sorry if this is confusing! It goes from first person to 3****rd**** throughout the whole thing…sorry about that! **

Ben grabs my arm and pulls me straight forward towards the busy street. "Ben, I have an idea. We need to split up. I'll go one way and you go the other way!" I say. Ben looks at me and shakes his head. "Ben, it's the only way! If I caught, I'm in big trouble." Ben sighs.

"I don't like the idea but your right." Ben says. I hand him the empty case and we walk through the cars passing. I look back and see a bus has stopped.

"Now!" I scream. Ben and I start running. I hear the bus move and look over my shoulder. Phil and Shippen following up. "Damn!" I yell as I run into the park as Ben ran straight. I dodge people and children as I hear heavy footsteps following me. I look back and see Shippen. I run through a playground, making sure I didn't hit any kids in my path. I see a small little café and I run inside. I jump over the counter and sit on the ground with my legs close to my body.

I hear someone clear there throat. I look up and see Andy standing there. "Crap." I mumble. I stand up and grab Andy. I pull him down to the ground as Shippen walks over to the counter. I cover Andy's mouth. I slowly look up and see a gun on his belt. I quickly duck down to make sure Shippen doesn't see me. He knows what I look like. Shippen bangs his fists on the counter and I hear him walk away slowly.

* * *

Abigail looks behind her and see Shaw following her and Riley. "Riley!" She yells. Riley looks behind her and see Shaw. "Time to run!" He says. They start running until they hit a farmer's market.

"Follow me!" Abigail says running to the right. She looks behind me and see Riley isn't behind her. Abigail jumps over a counter and sit down with the Declaration close to her chest. "If you're not a steak you don't belong here." The woman says. Abigail sighs.

"I'm just trying to hide from my ex-husband." She says. "Who? Baldy?" The woman asks. Abigail nods.

"Honey, stay as long as you like." Abigail sighs happily. "Thank you." She says. Abigail leans her head back to see Shaw's waist. A gun! She gasps and ducks down fast clenching the Declaration.

"Do you want something?" She asks. Shaw just sighs. "Do you want something?" She asks again.

"Shut up." He snaps. Abigail looks up to see him leaving the area. "I see why you left him." The woman says. Abigail smiles and stands up. She jumps over the counter and hides in bunches of flowers until someone taps her shoulder. Abigail gasps and turns quickly to see Riley standing there.

"Where were you?" She snaps. "Hiding! Come on!" Riley says. They run out of the farmer's market by bumping into people.

* * *

I sit up and make sure Shippen is no where to be found. "Why are you in Philly?" Andy asks sitting up. "No reason. Bye!" I say. I jump over the counter and start running again. I make my way across the street to the other side of the park and I stop to check my breath. I hear a shooting sound from a gun. I look and see Shippen. "Damn!" I scream. I start running again until I come to a dead end. "Not good, not good!" I mumble. I look around to see if I can escape the area. I see a ladder.

"That will work." I climb the ladder to the roof of the building and see Ben. "Ben?" I gasp. Ben turns and sees me.

"Maia?" His eyes widen. "Hey Gates! Enough, man. Give me the document." Phil yells pointing the gun at us. Ben slowly takes the case off the back.

"Alright, Phil." Ben throws the empty container and we go down the ladder quickly before Phil realizes that the Declaration isn't in there.

* * *

Riley and Abigail run through the city hall building and Riley gets stuck into a group of people. Abigail looks behind her and crashes into a biker. She falls and drops the document. It lands in the middle of the road. A car drives over it but doesn't crush it. Abigail gets up and goes to grab it when a large truck honks its horn. She freezes until Riley runs towards her and pulls her to the sidewalk. They both look up and see Ian walk into the middle of the road to pick up the Declaration. He opens it and smiles.

Riley helps Abigail up and they start running to get back to the car.

* * *

I stop to take a breath. I look up and see Ben is gone from my sight. I sigh and start walking to catch my breath until I bump into someone. "Are you Maia Castle?" He asks. I look at the person and nod. He pulls out his badge. Agent Sedusky, FBI. I gulp. "Mind coming with me?" Agent Sedusky asks. I put my hand on my hip.

"Did I have a chose?" I ask. He smiles and shakes his head. I put my hands behind my back and he cuffs me. "There are a lot of people looking for your buddy Benjamin Gates." Sedusky says.

"Of course they are. He stole the Declaration of Independence. I helped and I'm the first to be arrested." I mumble. "I read your record. Impressive!" Sedusky says. I roll my eyes.

"So what?"

"Where is your friend Ben Gates headed?" Sedusky asks. I shrug. "Probably the car. We were going to meet there." I sigh. I know Ben is going to get caught either way, so just get over with it.

* * *

Ben stops running when his phone rings. "What?"

"We lost it."

"What?"

"We lost the Declaration. Ian took it."

Ben clenches the phone hard but not enough to break it. "Yeah, okay. You alright? You both alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. We're alright. What about Maia?"

Ben turns around to see Maia but she's no where to be found. "Uh, Maia isn't here."

"What!"

"Maia must have gotten caught by Ian or something."

"God! I knew the splitting up wasn't going to work."

"Just meet me at the car! Maybe Maia is already there."

Ben hangs up the phone. He walks towards the car. "Suspect has arrived." Agent Michaels says. Sedusky walks out of the building and smiles at Ben. "Hello Mr. Gates." He says. Ben sighs as Agent Michaels pushes me out of the building and next to Ben.

"Mr. Gate, face your father's car and put your hands behind your back please." Agent Michaels says putting handcuffs on Ben. Michaels starts to rummage through Ben's pockets and pulls out the glasses.

"Be careful!" I snap. "We got two in custody." Michaels says.

"Mr. Gates you're a hand man to find." Sedusky says. I see Riley and Abigail turn a corner. I gasp quietly when I see Riley's eyes widen. "Run." I mouth. Riley nods and grabs Abigail's arm and they turn back to the way they came. Ben looks at me and I sigh as we get up into one of the FBI cars.

* * *

Abigail paces back and forth behind the bench that she and Riley stopped at. "I can't believe Maia got caught." Riley mumbles. Abigail ignores Riley's comment and puts her hands the bench. "Riley, do you know how to get in touch with Ian?" She asks. Riley looks up from his hands at her. "Excuse me?" Riley gasps.

"I know how to get Ben and your girlfriend out of FBI custody; we just need Ian's help." Abigail smiles.

* * *

Ben and I tell Sedusky our side of the story about the Declaration stealing. "That's some story." He smiles.

I sigh. "It's the same story we told you before the Declaration was stole." I snap at Michaels and the female agent. Michaels looks over at Sedusky with a frown. Sedusky rolls his eyes. "By you two?" He says.

"No, by Ian Howe." I snap. I'm getting really pissed off. I can't wait to get back to school and try to forget everything that is happening around me. "I stole it to stop him. I did it alone, Dr. Chase was not involved and Ian still ended up with the Declaration of Independence." Ben sighs. My eyes widen.

"What! Ian got the Declaration! How?" I snap. Ben closes his eyes. "Because of you. So here are your options. Door number one, you go to prison for a very long time." Sedusky says.

I gasp. "Agent Sedusky, I can't go to jail! I have school to finish!" I say. Sedusky shakes his head. "Door number two, we are going to get back the Declaration of Independence. You two help us find it and you still go to prison for an every long time, but you'll feel better inside." Sedusky says.

"Is there a door that doesn't lead to prison?" Ben asks. I give Sedusky a look. Please let there be another door! "Someone's got to go to prison, Ben." Sedusky laughs. I know who can go. The person who just stole the Declaration, Ian Howe.

"Yeah, I know." Ben mumbles. "So what are these for?" Sedusky asks playing with the Ben Franklin glasses.

"A way to read the map." I say trying to stretch my hands. These cuffs are hard and cutting into my skin. "Right, the Knight's Templar, Free Masons. Invisible treasure map. So what did it say?" Sedusky asks. My eyes twinkle. Sedusky knows about the legend.

"It said Heere at the wall." I smile. "Nothing else. Just another clue." Ben sighs. I watch as Sedusky move one part of the lens and a smile forms.

"There's more to it." Ben whispers. The phone rings and I jump. Note to self; never get caught up in history… Sedusky hands the phone over to Ben and he leans forward to answer it. Sedusky hands me a pair of headphones so I can hear what is about to happen.

"Yes?"

"Hello Ben. How are you?"

"Chained to a desk with Maia."

"Sorry to hear that. I want you to meet me on the flight desk of the U.S.S. Intrepid. You know where that is?"

"New York."

"Meet me there at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. And, bring the glasses you found at Independence Hall. Yeah, I know about the glasses. We can take a look at the Declaration and then you can be on your way."

"I supposed to believe that?"

"I told you from the start, I only wanted to borrow it. You can have it and the glasses. I'll even throw in the pipe from the Charlotte."

"We'll be there."

"Oh, and tell the FBI agents listening in on this call. If they want the Declaration back, and not just a box of confetti then you and Maia come alone."

Ian hangs up the phone and I hand the headphones over. Ben looks at me and I nod. I know what Ian is doing.

We head off to New York. "All eyes on Gates and Castle. Do not lose sight of the primary mark." Sedusky says. I sigh. "We can hear you, Sedusky." I mumble.

I know Sedusky rolled his eyes at the last comment. I can piss people off easily. "Gates, Castle stay with the program." Sedusky finally says.

"Sedusky. I hope all your agents are until 5 foot, age 10 and wearing Boy Scout scarves otherwise Ian is going to be tipped off." I sigh when I see Shippen out of the corner of my eye. "As soon as he shows you the Declaration we'll move in. Don't try anything you two." Sedusky says. I roll my eyes.

"You know something Agent Sedusky…something I've noticed about fishing, it never works out well for the bait." Ben says. We continue to walk on the sky deck until I see Shaw with a video camera. I tap Ben's shoulder and nod my head over to Shaw.

"Gates, Castle, you with me?" Sedusky asks. "Well we're sure not against you if that's what your asking." Ben says. Suddenly we hear a helicopter overhead and I grab Ben's arm. When Shaw walks over.

"Hello Ben, Maia. Thomas Edison needed only one way to make a light bulb Sound familiar?" Shaw smirks. Riley! I look at Shaw and nods. "Go to the observation point behind the F16 and here's what you do. Jump overboard…" He walks away and the helicopter leaves the area. I give Ben a look and he nods. We head towards the observation desk and look over to railing. I take a deep breath.

"Gates? Castle? Who's got them? Anyone got a view of our friend Ian Howe? Sedusky asks. "Oh, Ian Howe is not at the stern, sir." One agent says.

"Then why are them heading there?" Sedusky asks. Ben looks around as the agents slowly make there way over to us. "Sedusky, we're still not against you, but we found door number three and we're taking it." Ben smirks.

"What is he talking about?" Michaels asks. "Move in! Move in on, Gates and Castle! Snipers pursue action zebra." Sedusky says. I take out the hearing device and drop it to the ground. I break it with my foot. Ben and I jump into the Hudson's River. Someone grabs us and hands us an oxygen mask.


	8. New Plans

**Chapter Eight: New Plans**

**Another Chapter! Joy…! I didn't really enjoy this part until Maia confesses to Riley but that's the only thing I enjoyed in this whole chapter. I really should watch the movies again. I might have to write out what I want Maia to be in when I watch the 2****nd**** movie! **

**Only two more chapters until this story is over with and I start the next one. School starts in like 3 weeks so I'm going to be swamped with work…I might lag on writing for a bit! **

Ben and I surface and I figure we are in New Jersey by the scenery. "Hello Ben. Hello Maia. Welcome to Jersey." Shaw says. I climb the ladder and Shaw hands me a towel to wrap myself in. I thank him for once. Ben climbs up the ladder when it hits me. "Where's Riley and Abigail!" I snap. Shaw rolls his eyes.

"I hope these fit." Shaw says throwing clothes to Ben. "I said what did you do with Riley and Abigail? He's the only one who could have told you about the line that I said about Edison!" I throw the towel at him.

"Did you bring the glasses?" He asks. "I don't know tell me what's happening here." Ben asks.

"Ask your girlfriend. She's the one calling all the shots now. She won't shut up." Shaw sighs. I turn to Ben and smile. Sometimes Abigail's annoying side is good. Ben and I get in the car. A cell phone rings. "Here, it's for you." Shaw says handing Ben the phone. Ben holds it up to both of us.

"Hello?"

"Hi sweetie. How's your day going?"

"Interesting, dear. So, what? You're working for Ian now?"

"Turns out helping someone or in this case more than one someone escape from FBI custody are a criminal act. He's the only criminal we knew so we called him and made a deal."

"You're…you're alright? I mean, you're safe?"

"Yeah, we both are. Riley's right here, doing something clever with a computer."

"I'm tracking him through the…hey! I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want and we'll know it. So don't worry. Maia, how are you?"

"Great. Soaking water and freezing, I need to tell you something when I see you."

"Okay."

"If Ian tries to double cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And, where to find Ian."

"And where's that?"

"Right across the street from where we're hiding. At the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway."

"Well, you figured out the clue."

"Simple. Heere at the wall. Wall Street and Broadway. Ben, there is a catch. We made Ian believe that he could have the treasure. It was the only way we could get this far.

"Their here. Here we go!"

Ben hangs up the phone. Ben and I get out of the car. I see Ian smiling at us. "Ben. Maia. You alright? No broken bones? A jump like that could kill a man." Ian smirks. "You should really try it Ian. It was cool." I smirk. Ian frowns and looks at Ben.

"The Declaration of Independence and the Miashawn Pipe. All yours." Ian says putting them on top of the car. "That's it?" I ask.

"That's it. I knew you'd keep your promise. Now, where is it? Where's my treasure?" Ian asks crossing his arm. I roll my eyes. "It's right here. The map said Heere at the Wall spelled with 2 E's Wall Street follows the path of an actual wall that the Dutch settlers built as a defense to keep the British out. The main gate was located as the street called Deheere, also spelled with 2 E's. Later Deheere was renamed to Broadway after the British got in. So Heere as the Wall, Broadway, Wall Street." Ben says.

"Cheerio!" I smirk taking the pipe. Ben takes the document and we start to walk away. "Just a moment." Ian says. I sigh and turn back to him.

"Ian, if you double cross us the FBI will be only a few minutes behind you. You may get away, you might not. Let's hope you might not." I smirk. Ben puts a hand on my shoulder. "Is that all the map said?" Ian asks.

"Every word." Bun gulps. "Oh, Ben…you know the key to running a convincing bluff. Every once in a while, you've got to be holding all the cards." Ian nods to someone. We look and see a black car. The door opens and we see Patrick Gates. "Dad." Ben mumbles. The door closes and we turn back to Ian.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Ian says. "Trinity Church. We have to go inside Trinity Church." Ben sighs.

"Excellent. Well, why don't you ask Dr. Chase and Riley to join us? I'm sure they're around here somewhere." Ian smirks. My eyes widen. Where are they? I need to tell Riley something.

We go inside Trinity Church and I look around for Riley. I finally see him with Abigail. I run to him and hug him tight.

"Thank god! You're safe!" I whisper. Riley pulls me close and kisses me. I break the kiss. "Riley, I'm sorry! I lied before about why I broke up with you! Well, it was partly my parents but I really did love you." I kiss him and he kisses back.

"I realized when you kept the crystal for this long!" Riley whispers. "I've loved you since then and I still love you." I smile. Riley smiles and kisses me again.

"Break it up, lovers!" Shippen snaps. I break the kiss and see a gun pointed at us. Riley, Abigail, and I head to the back of the room. "You okay, Patrick?" I whisper.

"What do you think? I'm a hostage." Patrick snaps. I flinch and Riley puts his arm around my shoulders. I see Ben with Ian in the front of the room looking at the map. "Well, it's…uh…it's really quite something." Ben says handing the glasses over to Ian.

"Parkington Lane?" Ian says. "Beneath Parkington Lane." Ben says. My mind starts running. Parkington Lane? Isn't that a master mason?

"Why would the map lead us here, and then take us somewhere else? What's the purpose?" Ian asks. "Just another clue!" Patrick groans.

"Dad! No, you're right. Parkington Lane has to be around here somewhere." Ben says. "A street inside the church?" Ian laughs.

"Not inside, beneath. Beneath the church." Ben says. Everyone gets up and starts searching for Parkington Lane. I think I know where it is. "Come on, Riley." I say pulling him towards the tombs inside the church. We walk until I see the two tombs. I see Parkington Lane.

"Look what we have here." I smile. "It's a name." Riley smiles. I nod.

"Hey! We found it! Him!" Riley shouts. Everyone runs towards us. "Ben, it's a name!" Ian says.

"Parkington Lane. He was a third degree master mason of the blue light…" I start when I see Shaw start over to me with a large hammer. I move quickly. "HEY!" I scream as he breaks the tomb seal.

Ben, Ian, Patrick, Shippen, McGregor, and Victor take out the casket from the tomb and the whole bottom breaks off. "Oh!" Everyone shouts. "Careful no one steps in him." Shippen says. The men put the remaining casket on the ground on top of the corpse. Everyone looks into the tomb and sees it a tunnel.

"Okay, who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley says. I smile. "Can I?" I ask. Everyone turns and looks at me. I shrug and smile. Ben shakes his head.

"Alright. McGregor, Victor, you stay here. And if anyone should come out without me, well, use your imaginations. Shall we?" Ian says. Ben nods and goes down the tunnel first followed by Ian, then myself, Riley, Patrick, Abigail, Shippen, and Shaw.

Ben and Ian help me out first. Riley gets out and pulls me close. "Careful." Ben says to his father. Patrick nods and walks over to Riley and me. "Watch your step." Ben says helping Abigail out. Shippen and Shaw come out.

"Come here!" Ben says pulling Abigail close to him. He kisses her right there and then in front of everyone. Ben breaks the kiss and Abigail smiles at him. Aww, I knew they were going to get together, I just didn't know it was going to be here and now. "Why does that never happen to me?" Shippen asks. I try not to chuckle but Shippen notices me and glares. Riley pulls me over to Ben and the rest of the group.

"What's this?" Ian asks. "A chandelier." I smile. Ben nods and lights it up with fire. He's able to move it into the center of the room. I look down. Crap that would be a naughty fall.

"Wow!" Riley says looking down. "Look at the elevator system." Ben says.

"How do a bunch of guys with hand tools built all this?" Shippen asks looking around. "The same way they built the pyramids and the Great Wall of China." I smile.

"Yeah, the aliens helped them." Riley smiles. I turn to him and shake my hand. "How do you making something so extraordinary and turn into something stupid. Aliens aren't really." I snap. Riley smiles.

"Alright, let's go. What are you waiting for?" Ian says to Patrick. Patrick backs up and looks back the steps to the elevator system. "I'm not going on that thing! 200 years of termite damage and rot…" Patrick starts.

"Dad, do what he says." Ben sighs. Patrick nods and starts to walk. A board breaks and falls. "Watch your step." He says. I nod as I walk with Riley close to me. We hear a rumble overhead and dust falls. "Subway." Ian says. Each of us steps on the steps carefully but Shaw doesn't. The board breaks and he falls.

"God Shaw!" Ian yells. I watch as Ian's friend fall to his death. I gasp and grab Riley. Ben gets on the elevator. I grab Riley's hand and squeeze it. "Get on! Jump!" Ben says holding out his hand for Abigail.

"Ben!" She gasps. "The elevator!" I snap. The three of us jump onto the elevator and suddenly we start free falling. I scream Ben's name. We stop for a moment and Riley jumps over first. "Really?" I scream. He holds out his hand for me but the elevator free falls again. I scream again as I grab onto the edge of the elevator. Abigail falls to the bottom of the plank of wood, Ben grabs her hand.

"Maia!" Riley yells. I take a quick glance and see his ready to catch me. I whimper a little before the elevator swings closer to Riley. I let go and fall onto of Riley. I quickly stand up and see the Declaration going to fall. "Ben! The Declaration!" I scream. Ben quickly glances to the document then back to Abigail.

"Do you trust me?" Ben asks. Abigail nods. Ben waits to drop Abigail until she is over the steps. He lets go of her hand and drops her. I run over to her to help her up. "Oh no! Ben!" She screams as the elevator starts breaking more.

"Crap!" I yell. I see Ian dangle a robe for Ben to grab. Ben grabs it and the rest of the elevator breaks and falls into the dark pool of death. Ben swings over to a different part of the stairs. Abigail runs to him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I dropped you. I had to save the Declaration." Ben says. I run over.

"No, don't be! I would have done the exact same thing to you." Abigail smirks. "Really?" I gasp. Riley walks over to us. "I would have dropped you both. Freaks." Riley mumbles.

"Coming from the guy who let go of my hand to jump before me!" I snap. Riley kisses me. "Okay, I'm better." I smile.

Ian moves the elevator down to us. "Get on." He snaps. Riley pulls me close. "Ian, it's not worth it." Ben sighs.

"Do you imagine any one of your lives is more valuable to me than Shaw's? We go on." Ian says. I look at Ben and nod. If we want to stay alive then we go on. "The status quo. Keep the status quo." Patrick whispers. Ben nods and the four of us get onto the elevator.


	9. Treasure Room

**Chapter Nine: Treasure Room**

**2****nd**** to last chapter and then the end of the story until the sequel is up. That will be awhile. I need to watch the movie over and over again until I start publishing these to FanFiction! **

Ian brings us down farther down until we see a little opening. A room. I smile until we go off the elevator. There's nothing here…oh no…Ian's not going to be happy. "What is this?" Riley asks walking around the small room. "So, where's the treasure?" Shippen asks. Ben rubs the bridge of his nose. Crap, Ben is getting upset but I have a plan.

"Well?" Ian asks. I just want to punch him in his face. "This is it? We came all this way for a dead end?" Riley gasps.

"Yes."

"There's got to be something more." Riley says. I slowly get pissed off the make my plan work. "Riley, look at me. There's nothing more!" I snap.

"Another clue…" Riley says. "Riley! Shut up! There are no more clues! That's it! It's over. End of the road. The treasure is gone!" I yell at my boyfriend. Everyone stays quiet as they stare at me in shock. I normally never yell at anyone. Ben looks at me and I give him a look. A play-along look.

"Move. Take it somewhere else." Ben says pretending to give up on this treasure. "Your not playing games with me are you, Ben? Maia? You know where it is." Ian says.

"No, we don't! The treasure is gone, Ian!" I snap. Ian rolls his eyes. He's falling for it. "No." Ben says.

"Okay." Ian says jumping onto the elevator. Shippen starts to pull it up. "Hey, wait a minute!" Ben yells.

"Ian!" The rest of us yell. "Ian, wait!" Ben yells.

"You can't just leave us here!" Abigail yells. "Yes, I can. Unless Ben or Maia tells me the next clue." Ian says.

"Ian, there isn't another clue!" I snap. "Ian, wait. Listen, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together." Riley says. Ian pulls out his gun and points it at Riley.

"Don't speak again." He says. "O…kay." Riley mumbles.

"The clue. Where is the treasure? Ben?" Ian says pointing the gun at Ben. "The lantern." Patrick says. I look at Patrick in shock. What is he doing?

"Patrick." I mumble. "The status quo has changed." Patrick whispers. What is he taking about?

"Don't!"

"It's part of free mason teachings. In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue." Patrick says. Ian looks over at the lantern. I try to figure out what is happening here. "And, what does it mean?" Ian asks.

"Boston." Ben mumbles. "It's Boston, Ian." I say.

"The old North Church is Boston where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming two by land, one by sea! One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple! There's where we have to look!" Patrick says. "Thank you." Ian smiles. Shippen starts to go up higher.

"Hey, you have to take us with you!" Patrick says. "Why? So you escape in Boston? Besides, with you out of the picture there is less baggage to carry!" Ian smirks.

"Ian, what if we lied to you?" I ask crossing my arms. "Did you?" He points the gun at my chest. I just roll my eyes. He won't shoot me.

"What if there's another clue?" Ben asks. "Then, I'll know right where to find you. See you, Ben." Ian says as Shippen brings them back to the top.

"NO!" Ben yells. "There's no way out!" Riley yells.

"Come back!" Abigail shouts. "You're going to need us, Ian!" I yell.

"We're all going to die." Riley murmurs. "It's going to be okay, Riley. We're not going to die and I'm sorry I yelled at you." I say kissing his cheek.

"It's okay, kiddo." Patrick says to Riley. Ben, Patrick, and I scatter around to find what we are looking for. "Alright guys, what's going on? The British came by sea was two lanterns, not one." Abigail says.

"He wanted another clue, so we gave him one." I smirk. "It was a fake. A fake clue." Riley smiles. I nod. I go past a wall with my hand running over it. My fingers touch a circle marking. I touch it with the tips and feel the indent of the All-Seeing Eye.

"Ben!" I shout. Ben jogs over and sees what I'm looking at. "The all-seeing eye." Ben whispers.

"Through the all-seeing eye." I smile. "That means by the time Ian figures it out, we'll still be trapped down here and he'll shot us then! Either way we're going to die!" Riley moans.

I laugh. "No one's going to die, Riley. There's another way out." I say.

"Where?"

"Through the treasure room." Ben smiles. Ben and I push on the All-Seeing Eye and a door creaks open. Ben hands me the torch and he and Patrick push the door open. Ben takes back the torch. Him and his father head in first.

I gasp when I go through the opening. There's nothing! Is the treasure gone? Or, was it a myth? "Looks like someone got here first." Riley says. I glare at Riley. "Ben, I'm sorry!" I say walking over to him. Ben is just standing there looking at everything to make sure he's not hallucinating.

"It's gone." Ben finally says. "Listen, Ben." Patrick says.

"I might have been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates!" Ben sighs sadly. I pat his shoulder but see something out of the corner of my eye. "It doesn't matter." Patrick says.

"I know, because you were right." Ben says. I turn to Patrick and gasps. Patrick right? Ben, please stop talking like this. "No, I wasn't right. The room is real, Ben. You're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for us to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it, Ben! For all of us! Your grandfather and all of us! And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong!" Patrick says. I smile at Patrick. He really does love his son and this treasure.

"I just really thought I was going to find the treasure." Ben sighs. "Okay, then. We just keep looking for it." Patrick smiles. I nod in agreement.

"I'm in." Abigail says. "Me too, Ben." I say.

Ben smiles at us. "Okay."

"Not to be Johnny Rain Cloud, but that's not going to happen. Because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here! Ben where's this other way out?" Riley asks. "That's it, it doesn't make any sense. The first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was cut a secondary shaft back out for air…" Ben starts. I pull out the pipe out of my pocket and walk over to the wall.

"Right." Patrick says. "…incase of cave-ins." Ben says. I look at the wall and smile. "Could it be that simple?" Ben walks over to me.

"The secret lies with Charlotte." Ben and I say. I take off the pipe and put the ship part in the indentation. Ben puts the pipe part on the circle. I push the ship into the hole and Ben moves the pipe to open the door. A door opens on the other side of the room and I rush over to it. I take Patrick's torch and walk inside. I gasp before I even enter. I walk in and look around. Wow!

Everyone walks in after me and stop. "Holy crap." Riley mumbles. Abigail goes over to a bookcase of scrolls. Riley walks over to a statue. "That's a big, bluish-green man, with a strange looking goatee. I'm guessing that's significant." Riley says as he hugs it. I laugh and walk over to Ben. He touches the pot. "Oil?" I question.

He nods and puts his torch in it. I watch as the fire shoots down like a wild fire. I gasp as I see all the treasure that's being exposed. I can't believe we actually found the Templar treasure. The one people were saying was a myth, saying it's not possible, and look at it. The five of us go over to the railing and see everything. "Yes!" I scream. Ben laughs and gives me a single arm hug. "I can't believe how much treasure is there!" I smile. Ben shrugs and smiles.

"Riley, are you _crying_?" Abigail says. I look at Riley and see tears falling on his cheeks. "Look, stairs." Riley points. Everyone looks and see stairs in the back corner. I laugh and walk over to him. I kiss him.


	10. Back Together

**Chapter Ten: Back Together**

**The last and final chapter of Treasure Hunting with the Ex! I had fun with this story and I can't wait to start writing the next one! Look for that during September or October! Who knows when I'll get to it…but enjoy!**

We make our way up to the Trinity Church. Ben gets out first with Abigail behind him. Once we are all back to the surface, Ben calls Sedusky down. I hand him the Declaration once he comes. "Just like that?" He asks. "Just like that." Ben and I say.

"You just handed me your biggest bargaining chip." Sedusky says. I laugh. "Not to us, Sedusky. This is too big to bargain with." I smirk.

"So, I'm guessing you found the treasure." Sedusky says. "About 10 billion dollars worth and it's about 5 stories beneath your shoes." I smile. Sedusky smiles.

"You know, the templars and the free masons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man, to have! Not even a king! That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden!" Sedusky says messing with the ring on his finger. "I have the same ring." I smile pulls it out. It's not a necklace around my neck. I never take it off. My father gave it to me before he died. Sedusky smiles.

"That's right. The founding fathers believed the same thing in government. I figure their solution will work for the treasure too!" Ben says. "Give it to the people?" Sedusky asks.

"Yep! We can divide it among the Smithsonian, the Luve, and the Cairo Museum. There are thousands of years of world history down there, and it belongs to the world. Everybody needs to see it, Sedusky!" I say. Sedusky nods.

"You really don't understand the concept of a bargaining chip." Sedusky chuckles. "Here's what I want. Dr. Chase gets off completely clean, not even a little post-it note on her service record and that goes for Maia Castle too." Ben smiles at me. I look at Ben and roll my eyes. I look over at Abigail. She's smiling too.

"Okay."

"I want all the credit for the find to go to the entire Gates family with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole and Ms. Maia Castle." Ben says. Well, my professor should let me off the hook with that one. "And, what about you two?" Sedusky asks,

"I have enough stuff but I would really enjoy not going to prison." I sigh. "I really would love not to go to prison. I can't even begin to describe how much I would love not to go to prison!" Ben says.

"Someone's got to go to prison." Sedusky laughs. I give Sedusky a smirk. "Well, if you have a helicopter. I think we can help with that." Sedusky gives me a weird look.

"Mr. Ian Howe." I say. Ben laughs. "He should be in Boston by now." Ben says. Sedusky gives us a confused look.

"Ben, Patrick, and I gave him a fake clue so he should be at Old North Church, breaking into it." I say. Sedusky laughs and we stand up. I go over to Riley and hug him tight. "Ben and I are going to go to Boston for a bit. You guys want to come?" I smirk.

"To see Ian get arrested. Yeah!" Abigail smiles. I laugh. "Hey, Sedusky. Can we have Abigail, Riley, and Patrick comes with us?" I ask. Sedusky nods. We leave Trinity Church and go to Boston. Everyone find in the shadows until the FBI come towards Ian. "Freeze! Hands up! Turn around." One of the agents yells pointing a gun. I hear Ian growl all the way from here. I giggle as he puts his hands in the air.

"You're under arrest, Mr. Howe. We've got you on kidnapping, attempted murder, and oh, trespassing on government property." Sedusky smirks. Ian gets cuffed as the five of us come out of the shadows. Ian's face falls. I wave to him with a smirk. Ben shrugs. Abigail just smiles at him. Patrick has his arms crossed, after being kidnapped he must hate Ian. Riley wraps his arm around my shoulder and smiles at me. Ian and his men get put him the cop cars and drive away. "So, what should we do now?" I ask everyone.

"How about a change of clothes and a hotel until tomorrow since it is past midnight." Ben says checking his watch. I nod. Sedusky walks over. "You planning on stay for a few days?" He asks. I smile and Ben nods.

"I'll make the arrangements." Sedusky says taking out his cell phone. "Sedusky is on our side." I laugh. We walk away with Sedusky.

The following morning. I wake up and see Riley sitting here staring at me. "Quit staring. It's not polite." I smile. Riley rolls his eyes and kisses me. I break the kiss and look around. "Where are Ben, Abigail, and Patrick?" I ask.

"Ben said something about morning breakfast date with Abigail. Patrick said something about taking in the sights before he leaves." Riley says running his hand through my hair. I see clothes laid out of me and Riley. I jump up and see what Abigail brought me. "I love Abigail!" I smirk as I hold up the jeans. My cell phone rings.

"Hello?"

"Girl, you're all over the news!"

"What? That's quick. We just found it yesterday."

"What are you talking about?"

"What _are_ you taking about?"

"Ben Gates stealing the Declaration. Your name is all over the news." I laugh.

"That's old news, Kat! Just wait until tomorrow morning. You'll be seeing my name along with Ben Gates, Patrick Gates, Dr. Abigail Chase, and Riley Poole." I feel arms wrap around my waist and Riley kisses my neck.

"Andy's been talking about you. How was your trip to Philly?" I roll my eyes.

"Tell Andy I'm not interested anymore! I have a boyfriend."

"Who?"

"The guy who gave me the crystal."

"Riley?"

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" The door opens and I see Abigail and Ben walk in. "Gotta go!"

I hang up on Kat and smiles at them. "Thanks, Abigail! I love your choose in clothes!" I smile. Abigail laughs. Riley let's go of me and I go change into the clothes Abigail got for me. I walk out and see Abigail on the phone. Ben and Riley are gone.

"Abigail, where are Ben and Riley?" I whisper. She looks at me and just smiles. I walk out and see a note on the ground. 'Maia, go downstairs to the garden. –R and B'. I laugh and do what the note says.

I go to the garden behind the hotel and see Riley standing there, smiling. "Riley? What is this?" I ask. I walk closer to him and see a box in his hand. No… "No, it's not an engagement ring, silly. It's a necklace." Riley says. I open the box and see the crystal with the free mason ring around it. I gasp. My ring and my crystal. I look at Riley with tears.

"Thanks. It's amazing!" I smile. Riley puts the necklace around my neck. "But, I do have a question." Riley smiles. I gulp.

"Do you want to move in with me?" Riley asks. I gasp and nod. He pulls me close and kisses me

A few months later. "Yeah, you got it, Chief. Thank you. Bye." Riley hangs up the phone. I grab his hand as we walk towards his car. "They want us in Cairo next week for the opening of the exhibit. They're sending a private jet." Riley says.

"Fun!" I smile. "Big whoop. You could have had a whole fleet of private jets. Ten percent, Ben. They offered you ten percent and you turned it down." Riley groans.

"Riley, we've been over this. It was too much. I couldn't accept it." Ben says wrapping his arm around Abigail's waist. "I actually have this splinter that's been festering for three months from an old piece of wood." Riley says looking at his finger. I roll my eyes.

"I'll tell you what; next time we find a treasure that redefines history for all mankind. You make the call on the finder's fee." Ben smiles. Riley rolls his eyes. "It's not funny." Riley mumbles. We walk over to his car.

"Riley, I should drive." I say with gulp. Riley nods. "Enjoy you spoils while I sit on one percent. One stinking percent. Half of one percent actually. One percent." Riley mumbles.

"Two percent." I smile. Riley shakes his head. "I'm sorry for you suffering, Riley." Ben says. Riley gets in the car. I open the car door and get in.

"For the record, Ben. I like the house." Riley smiles. "You know, I chose this estate because in 1812, Charles Carrol…" Ben starts.

"Who did something in history and had fun. Yeah, that's great." Riley mumbles. "You could have gotten a bigger house." I smirk. I drive off to our new place that Riley doesn't know about.

"My apartment is on the other side of town." Riley says. "I know! I brought a place with my one percent. Well, half of my one percent." I smirk. Riley smiles.

"Don't worry! You'll love it!" I say. I arrive at the apartment. "Okay…This is very close to Ben and your college." Riley says.

"We have the top floor." I smirk. Riley's eyes widen and he kisses me. "I love you!" He says.

"Love you too!" I smile.


End file.
